Dragon Family Values
by Willow-Bane
Summary: This is pretty much a collection of drabbles using our favorite dragons: Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue. Possibly some Laxus. And anyone else who wants to join in. #30 - Rogue doesn't care for the rain.
1. Introduction

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: This is pretty much a collection of drabbles using our favorite dragons: Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue. Possibly some Laxus. And anyone else who wants to join in.

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This collection will mostly be rated T, but some drabbles may be subject to change. I'll make sure to indicate the rating on each one.

* * *

 **Introduction (Rated T)**

No one really knew what to expect when Sabertooth's Sting and Rogue entered the Fairy Tail guild about a month after the Grand Magic Games. And no one really knew what to do when Sting suddenly tackled Natsu to the ground in a giant hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him.

It wasn't until Erza cleared her throat that the guild sighed in relief. It seemed someone knew what to do.

Sting, startled out of his glomp-like reverie, sprung to his feet and gave a nervous laugh, his hand awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "Uh, hi."

Erza raised an eyebrow at him as Natsu got back to his feet, dusting off his pants. "May I inquire as to why you suddenly attacked one of my fellow guild mates?"

"Attacked?" Sting echoed glancing at Natsu. "I didn't attack anyone. Did I Natsu-nii?"

A pink hue stained Natsu's cheeks at the familial endearment while Rogue averted his eyes at his friend's disgraceful behavior. Honestly, had he no decorum whatsoever? They were in their former enemy's guild for crying out loud!

The requip mage's eyes narrowed. "Natsu…nii?" Her eyes flashed over to Natsu. "Explain."

It was the fire dragon-slayer's turn to scratch the back of his head awkwardly. "Um…well, you see…uh."

"If you can't spit it out, Salamander, I will," cut in Gajeel. "The Salamander, myself, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue—we were all raised by dragons. At the Grand Magic games, we connected kinda like real dragons do. Sting calls Natsu that now because he's probably the second oldest out of us. I think I'm actually the oldest. It's just a dragon family thing." Feeling that he'd clearly explained the situation, the iron dragon-slayer turned to leave, only to be interrupted by Levy.

"What do you mean you connected like real dragons do?" she asked curiously.

"Tch, you wouldn't understand," grumbled Gajeel.

"Maybe I can explain?" suggested Wendy hesitantly. "Since we were raised by dragons, what we lack in appearance, we make up for in ability and personality. Instinctually, we have a very structured social apparatus, which makes the five of us a…what would you call it?"

"A clan," Rogue offered.

Wendy smiled. "Yes. A clan. A grouping of dragons, or as is our case—dragon-slayers—is called a clan, which has a leader and a purpose. Natsu, being of royal descent, is technically our leader."

"Pfft," chuckled Gray. "You've gotta be kidding me. Flame-brain? Royalty?"

"Hey!" Sting cut in. "I don't see what's so funny. Igneel is _King_ of the Fire Dragons and Natsu is his son. Put it together, would ya?"

Gray sobered up. "Wait! Are you serious?!" He looked at Natsu, who nodded hesitantly. "Well, they just give those titles out to anybody, don't they?"

"What's that supposed to mean, stupid stripper?!"

"Just what you think it does, ashbreath!"

"Boys!" Erza snapped. "I would like to hear the rest of Wendy's explanation. If you would, Wendy."

The young girl nodded and continued. "As I was saying, Natsu is technically the leader of our dragon clan. As such, we also have strong familial ties when together. Families have very close bonds."

"It didn't seem like that at the Grand Magic Games," muttered Lucy. However, Natsu caught her words.

"That was…a special circumstance," said Natsu. "We were trying to find our standing with each other."

"Standing?"

"Dragons are also divided into social classes," added Rogue quietly. "Lesser Class, Mid Class, and Greater Class. None of us are considered Lesser Class because that would consist of something along the lines of wild beasts, or something very primitive."

"We're technically Mid Class," said Sting. "All of us. At the Grand Magic Games, we were trying to overcome each other in an attempt to reach Greater Class. That standing still belongs to our dragon parents, who possess the greatest magical power of any mortal race. Considering we couldn't… _defeat_ a dragon when we needed to, it became sort of a wakeup call that our battle for higher standing was all for nothing."

"We just ended up hurting our family," Natsu added solemnly. "It's just too bad we couldn't have all been together in the beginning, huh?"

The other dragon-slayers gazed at him sadly, knowing that in their hearts, they wished for that same thing.

"But we're together now, right?" said Sting cheerfully, trying to lighten the mood. "We're one big, happy family. So, who's up for a group hug?"

"No!" shouted Gajeel, looking embarrassed. "Count me out!"

"Rogue! If you would!"

The shadow dragon-slayer smirked. "Of course." Shadowy tendrils slithered across the guild and grabbed the other dragon-slayers, dragging them closer to himself and Sting, the latter of whom wrapped his arms around all members of his dragon family.

"Okay. You've had your touchy-feely moment, now let me go!" growled Gajeel as he struggled to free himself.

"Aw, Gajeel. You don't have to smell so embarrassed," taunted Natsu with a huge grin on his face, making everyone else in the guild laugh.

"Stop lying, Salamander! I'm nothing of the sort!"

As the dragon-slayers started squabbling with one another, Erza smiled. Perhaps something really good had come out of something so devastating. Her precious guild members had found a family amongst all the destruction at the Grand Magic Games, and it seemed that their bonds were deeper than anything she could possibly comprehend. And those bonds would only continue to grow.

"Oh, yeah?!" shouted Gajeel. "How about I take that strawberry cake and shove it up your fire-breathing ass!"

But sometimes, bonds were meant to be severed. "NO ONE LAYS A HAND ON THAT CAKE!"

* * *

 **Author's Note – I felt like this one got away from me. I hope the next one is better.**

 ***Next Theme – Love***


	2. Love

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Natsu is abducted by a Dark Guild that is determined to use him to capture Zeref. Gray, with the help of Sting and Rogue, race off to rescue him. But what will they find?

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating M for MATURE.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Love (Rated M)**

Natsu groaned as he slowly came back to consciousness. He tried to place a hand on his aching head, but found that he couldn't move his hand. Either of his hands.

Opening his eyes, he turned his head to the left. As his vision slowly focused, he realized that both his wrists were mounted to some sort of stone wall with Magic Seal Stone cuffs. Glancing down, he noticed that his legs were in the same predicament. What the hell was going on?

"Awake, are we?"

Natsu's head snapped back up. A tall, lean man stood in front of him. His hair was the darkest black he'd ever seen, and they matched his stone cold eyes. "Who the hell are you? And what the fuck am I doing here?"

The man approached him slowly, seemingly amused by his captive's outburst. "My name is Guild Master Zayin Brevil and you are currently in the Dark Guild, Blood's Towers. And if you're wondering how someone as _strong_ as yourself was captured by a _measly_ Dark Guild, then you should not underestimate the power of a Binding Magic Weapon and a blow to the head."

Well, at least that explained the headache. "I'll say it again. What the fuck am I doing here?"

Zayin leaned toward Natsu, their noses nearly touching, a smirk on the dark mage's face. "You're not a very patient man, are you? Well, that'll soon change."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're my means of capturing Zeref."

Zeref? Natsu clenched his hands into fists. What did this man want with Zeref?

"You see, Zeref is an extremely powerful dark wizard. He's dabbled heavily in the Black Arts and Living Magic. My most recent research has led me to his use of Ankhseram Black Magic, or as I like to call it, Death Magic."

"Yeah, yeah. So you took Black Wizard 101. What's that got to do with me?"

"You," continued Zayin, "are the key to his capture. I intend to control Zeref by any means necessary in order to rule this pitiful continent of Fiore. You see, Zeref is one side of a _very_ special coin. He's the Black Wizard, he's cursed, he's the darkness, the epitome of death. I intend to create the second side of this very special coin. A White Wizard, per se. Someone who represents the light. A being I intend to have harness Ankhseram White Magic, or Life Magic."

"Life Magic?"

Zayin nodded. "Life Magic is something I stumbled across in my research. Whereas Zeref has the magic to take life away, I discovered a magic that gives it. However, I need a vessel to harness the ability to use this magic. An extremely powerful mage, if you will."

"Wait," said Natsu, realization dawning in him. "You're gonna use me for some freaky experiment? Hell no!"

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter," said Zayin. "Once I create Zeref's complete opposite with my little ritual, I shall bind you to him, and I will have control over life and death."

"Then do it to yourself! Why me?"

"Because," said Zayin, leaning even closer to Natsu's face; he gripped the dragon-slayer's chin in his hand to ensure he looked him straight in the eyes, "it works best with someone who has familial ties."

Natsu's eyes widened. He knew. This Zayin guy _knew_.

"Now, shall we begin? Let's start with this," Zayin said maliciously as he removed Natsu's scarf.

That snapped Natsu out of his shock. "Give that back!"

"I don't think so," he replied as he tossed it into the lit fireplace on the other side of the room. He approached Natsu again and began stripping him of all his clothes. Zayin tossed those into the fire as well.

Natsu was left helpless as he watched his clothes burning on the far side of the room. Naked, humiliated, and afraid, he swallowed the lump that began forming in his throat.

"Oh, I almost forgot," chuckled Zayin as he stepped toward Natsu. He raised a hand and placed it on the dragon-slayer's right arm, directly on his guild mark. "You won't be needing this anymore."

"No!" Natsu shouted desperately, but it was to no avail. Zayin had erased his precious guild mark.

"Let the ritual commence."

* * *

"How the hell did he go missing in the middle of a war?!" shouted Gray angrily. Not only was he pissed about the attacks from Alvarez, but now his friend was missing.

"Happy says he was taken," said Erza.

"Taken? By who?" questioned Sting, worry marring his features. His heart stung at the thought of Natsu being captured.

"It wasn't someone from Alvarez," said Happy. "The guild mark was different. I think they were some kind of Dark Guild."

Erza crossed her arms as she frowned in thought. They weren't in the best situation right now. Alvarez had them spread out on various fronts, and now that Natsu had been taken, their chances of success had diminished considerably. But to suddenly spring a rescue mission…

"Sting and Rogue," she snapped. "Do you think you can find Natsu by catching his scent?"

"I can still smell it, although it's faint," said Rogue.

Erza nodded. "Gray. Go with Sting and Rogue and find Natsu. Bring him back. Destroy that Dark Guild if you have to."

"On it," replied Gray as he took off with the two dragon-slayers. _You'd better be all right, flamebrain._

* * *

When Natsu woke next, he noticed two things. One, his body felt like it had been scalded in boiling water. Two, his back wasn't resting against hard stone anymore; it was against something soft—a bed. That was strange.

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that he was no longer in that room with Zayin. And he sighed in relief. Natsu hadn't lasted five minutes of that ritual before passing out. The pain had been so intense. It wasn't something he ever wanted to experience again.

"Where the hell am I now?" Natsu mumbled under his breath. However, his voice caught as soon as the words left his mouth. It sounded different. His voice sounded different. It was higher, more—"Holy shit!"

Natsu sprang up into a sitting position. A white sheet that had been covering him, pooled around his waist, his now very narrow and _feminine_ waist. Accompanied by small, round mounds that were now Natsu's very own breasts.

"He turned me into a girl?!" Natsu shrieked.

"And a very pleasing one at that."

Natsu jerked when hearing Zayin's voice. Grabbing the sheet, he quickly covered his naked body.

"There's no need to be shy," cackled Zayin as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"What the hell did you do to me?"

"Exactly what I said I would. I created Zeref's complete opposite. He harnesses Death Magic, you now harness Life Magic. He is the Black Wizard, you are now the White Wizard. He is male, you are now female. Once I bind the two of you, I'll have control over Life and Death."

This guy was crazy! "Why did you have to turn me into a girl?"

"Do you know nothing of nature?" inquired Zayin. "In all things, the female gives life. Using Life Magic is impossible as a male. Call it a balance, if you will. And once I get you near Zeref, I will bind you together, connect you. When that is complete, I will bind your minds and bend your will to mine."

This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. "Change me back." Natsu meant for it to come out threateningly, but it came out as a whisper.

"Oh, I don't think so," Zayin said as he leaned forward. "There's too much at stake to go back now. I need you to recover your magic power."

Magic power. That was it! The Magic Seal Stone cuffs were gone. Natsu could use magic!

"Before you get any ideas, I may have forgotten to mention one thing," Zayin said as he smirked. "Your days as a fire dragon-slayer are over, I'm afraid. You won't be able to use that magic anymore."

"I don't believe you," Natsu spat. Lifting his hand rebelliously, Natsu tried to summon the flames he always had ever since he was a child.

They didn't come.

He tried again and again and again. All had the same result. There were no flames.

"I told you," said Zayin. "Your fire magic is gone. Oh, don't look at me like that. It makes you look _far_ too tempting."

Natsu blanched when Zayin leaned even closer. Placing his hands on the dark mage's chest, Natsu tried to push him away, yet to no avail.

This action only made Zayin chuckle. "You're both physically and mentally drained. Do you really think you stand a chance against me?" He ripped the sheet away that kept Natsu covered and pushed him—no, her—back down onto the bed. "Now, let me show you what it means to be a woman."

* * *

They'd found it. They'd finally found it. Gray thanked the heavens that Sting and Rogue were dragon-slayers. They probably wouldn't have been able to find the location of where Natsu was being kept otherwise.

"Well?" asked Sting when Rogue reappeared from the shadows.

"This is a Dark Guild by the name Blood's Towers. It seems they are Zeref worshippers or something along those lines. I don't know where the guild master is, but there don't seem to be too many mages."

"Maybe the war has something to do with that," suggested Gray.

Rogue briefly nodded. "I can smell Natsu inside. He seems to be deep within the guild."

"Well, then let's go bust him out," said Sting, raring to go. No one messed with his fellow dragon clan, especially Natsu.

"Let's do this," said Gray.

Rogue disappeared back into the shadows while Sting and Gray quickly and stealthily approached the guild. They heard Rogue's shadows snatching mages here and there, which allowed for the two to make their way into the guild unnoticed.

"Where do we go?" whispered Gray.

Sting raised his head and sniffed. "This way," he replied, leading Gray down a dark corridor toward the left. They crept painstakingly slowly, Sting stopping every now and then to sniff the air. "His scent is everywhere, as well as someone else. Someone powerful. It's hard to pinpoint his exact location."

"But he's down this way, right?" Sting nodded. "Then let's check the rooms along the way."

Both Sting and Gray checked every single room down the corridor and found nothing until they reached the last door at the end of the hall.

"Here," said Sting. "Natsu's scent is heavy in here." The two mages opened the door and found…absolutely nothing. "I don't get it. He should be here. I smell him."

"Let's investigate. Maybe we'll find a clue."

Sting wandered to the far side of the room where he smelled Natsu the strongest while Gray made his way toward a large, stone-like wall that stood in the middle of the room. Magic Seal Stone cuffs were mounted to the wall. Gray clenched his fists when he thought that perhaps Natsu had been held here.

Sting huffed as he stared at the barely smoldering fireplace. That must mean whoever was here must not have left that long ago. But why did Natsu's smell bring him here in the first place?

It was then he noticed something white in the thick ashes of the fireplace. Kneeling, he swiftly brushed some of the ashes away. His heart plummeted. It was Natsu's scarf. Reaching into the hearth, he pulled it free from the remaining embers, seemingly unharmed, albeit a little dirty. He held the scarf against his chest.

"Did you find anything?" asked Gray as he made his way over to Sting. The dragon-slayer stood and turned toward the ice mage. Gray noticed the scarf in his hands. "Natsu."

"Where the hell is he?" Sting snapped, anger consuming him. "We need to find him. I _need_ to find him."

Suddenly, Rogue appeared from the shadows. "I took care of the other mages, but I can't find the guild master. Did you find Natsu?"

Sting shook his head and pulled the scarf closer to his chest.

"We'll find him," said Gray. "I promise."

A scream abruptly pierced the air.

"What the hell was that?" started Gray.

"Let's find out," said Sting, wrapping the scarf around his neck as he led the way.

* * *

Natsu froze when Zayin pinned her hands above her head with one hand, his other trailing slowly down her chest. She gasped when Zayin squeezed one of her breasts.

"You should consider yourself lucky," said Zayin. "You're the only one of my guests who's received such special treatment."

"Let me go," Natsu gasped, feeling the traveling hand continue its journey southward. She struggled as best as she could, but Zayin was just too strong. So she did the only thing she could think of in a situation like this. She screamed.

This only made Zayin laugh. "Do you really think anyone will come to save you? Think again. No one even knows where you are."

 _BANG!_

The door behind them splintered in a flurry of wooden shards and ice. Zayin bolted to his feet, giving Natsu the chance she needed to grab the sheet, wrap herself, and flee to the far side of the room.

"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Zayin, staring down the one who dared enter his domain. He took a step backward, however, when he noticed two other mages flanking the main mage's sides.

"The name's Gray Fullbuster," he announced. "My friends and I are looking for someone. Perhaps you know him. Does the name Natsu ring any bells?"

Zayin clenched his jaw and glared at the mages who stared murderously at him. He wasn't in a position to start a fight with these mages. They meant business. But that didn't mean he was finished.

Zayin smirked. "Natsu, did you say? The one you know as Natsu is no more, I'm afraid," he said, taking a few more steps backward before turning to face Natsu. "I'll be back for you," he whispered as he disappeared from the room.

"Teleportation Magic?" muttered Rogue.

"What the hell are we going to do now?" ground out Gray.

Sting, however, ignored them both, his eyes trained on the figure in the corner of the room. "Hey," he said soothingly, "you can come out now. No need to be afraid."

Natsu inhaled sharply. Sting didn't notice. That…hurt. She didn't know why, but that suddenly made her cry.

"Woah, it's okay," he said, rushing over. "There's no need to…" The minute Sting reached her, his senses were assaulted by something familiar. It was slightly different from before, yet he'd know that scent anywhere. "Natsu?"

Natsu's head shot up and stared at Sting with watery eyes. She nodded briefly and continued to cry.

"Did you say Natsu?"

"You found Natsu?"

Rogue and Gray appeared next to Sting to see what he was staring so intently at. They gasped when they saw a young woman on the floor, who looked strikingly similar to Natsu.

Sting knelt before her and inhaled once more. This was Natsu. They'd found Natsu. "Natsu? Why are you a..."

"Girl?" Rogue offered.

"Yes," said Sting. "Why are you a girl?"

"He turned me into one," Natsu sobbed. "Zayin did some kind of ritual to turn me into a vessel that harnesses Life Magic or something like that. He said he needed an equal for Zeref. He changed me and took everything that made me who I was!"

"I take it Zayin's the guild master," Gray stated, still trying to get over the fact that his best friend now had breasts.

"Natsu," Sting replied soothingly, gently placing his hands on her shoulders. "Everything's going to be fine. We'll fix this. Us dragons have to stick together, right?"

What Sting thought would soothe her only made her cry even harder.

"Nice going, you blonde bimbo," growled Gray.

"What did I say?"

Natsu tried to get control over her sobs to explain. "He took it."

"Took what?" asked Rogue.

"He took my fire dragon-slaying magic. I can't do it anymore. Zayin replaced it with Life Magic."

Sting had never seen someone look so broken. Before he even knew what he was doing, Sting embraced Natsu, rubbing her back consolingly. It was then he noticed something else. This Zayin person's scent was all over her. Growling possessively, he demanded lowly, "Did he take anything else?"

Natsu peered up at him, unsure by what he meant. She blushed when it dawned on her that he must have smelled Zayin. Natsu shook her head. "You guys came before he could get any further." She had been so relieved when she felt that wandering hand leave her body.

"Any…further?" Sting ground out. Just what had Natsu been subjected to?

"H-He touched me…a little," replied Natsu quietly as she gripped for a scarf that wasn't there.

Gray couldn't believe what he was hearing. When he found Zayin, there would be hell to pay.

"Natsu," began Rogue, "are you naked?" Always the blunt and straightforward one, Gray and Sting's eyes shot toward Natsu once more, only now realizing she was covered in nothing more than a white sheet.

Natsu whined pitifully. "He burned my clothes…a-and took my scarf."

Scarf? "Oh! Here!" shouted Sting, unraveling the scarf from around his neck and giving it to Natsu. "I almost forgot." To be honest, he was surprised she didn't notice it.

"My scarf," she said, a smile lighting up her face. It made her look absolutely adorable. "You found my scarf. Thank you." She held her precious item against her face with a contented sigh.

Sting stood up from the floor. "We need to get out of here and get back to base camp. Then we can figure out how to turn you back."

"Good idea," said Gray.

Rogue cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should do something about Natsu's attire first. I don't think… _she_ wants to go out like that."

The three mages stared at a blushing Natsu. Clothes would be a good idea.

"Well, uh, we could take the sheet and do something with that," suggested Gray as he moved in to grab the sheet.

Sting smacked him away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Helping Natsu get dressed, obviously!" retaliated Gray.

"Oh, no you're not! You're the master of taking clothes off, not putting them on!"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Rogue rolled his eyes as Sting and Gray continued to squabble. He approached Natsu and offered to help her utilize the sheet as a piece of clothing. She readily agreed. A few minutes later, Natsu was dressed. No one would even know it had been a sheet.

"Oi, idiots!" shouted Natsu. "Let's go!"

Sting and Gray stopped their bickering to look at Natsu, and their jaws dropped. Sure, she was still the same old Natsu, but with her hair a bit longer and more tamed and with her feminine physique, she looked stunning as a girl. The sheet, which had once been draped precariously over her shoulders, was now arranged around her like a fashionable toga, her scarf wrapped around her middle just beneath her breasts to keep it in place. Natsu's feet, however, were still bare.

"Stop staring at me!" Natsu hissed, the blush returning full force.

"S-Sorry," said Sting as he averted his eyes. "Let's get out of here. I don't think anyone else is left in the guild, but we should still be careful."

The four of them left the room and began making their way down the darkened halls of the guild, Natsu trailing behind them. That ritual had taken a lot out of her, but she wasn't willing to admit that. She didn't want to be seen as weak.

"Eek!" she yelped when she felt a strong pair of arms lift her bridal-style. "Sting! Put me down! I can walk!" Natsu felt the rumble of his laugh through his chest.

"I know you can," replied Sting, "but even I can see that you're utterly exhausted. You're not going to be a burden. Just let me help you."

Natsu's irritation simmered at the gentle look in Sting's eyes. She sighed, her brave front dissipating as exhaustion took root on her smaller form. "All right."

* * *

By the time they made it to base camp, it was already nightfall. But perhaps that was a good thing. It prevented a lot of unwanted questions.

Sting, Rogue, and Gray brought Natsu to a vacant tent in the base camp. Once they considered her settled, Gray left to find Master Makarov and Porlyusica. A few minutes later, they arrived.

"N-Natsu!" Makarov stammered as he leered at one of his _children_. Porlyusica smacked him in the back of the head.

"What have you humans gotten yourselves into this time?" she said as she pursed her lips and stared at Natsu.

Natsu then related the story of her capture by the Dark Guild, Blood's Towers and Zayin's intentions. Makarov grew angrier with every word she spoke. How dare someone do such horrible things to one of his children! Although, he had to admit, he kind of liked the way Natsu looked like this.

Before Porlyusica could smack Makarov in the back of the head again due to the unsavory nature of his gaze, she found that she'd been beaten to it. Both Sting and Rogue had smacked the old man.

"I can just _smell_ your perverted intentions," Sting spat. Rogue grunted in agreement.

"Is there any way to change me back?" Natsu's voice startled everyone out of their thoughts.

Porlyusica approached her and lifted a hand over Natsu's head. A faint glow appeared above her. "This is a powerful spell. You said it was a ritual?"

Natsu nodded.

"This type of magic is forbidden for a reason. And you said this man instilled you with Life Magic? Don't use it. I'm not sure if that man is aware of this, but using Life Magic puts the user at risk. As for changing you back, it is possible since you haven't been bound to Zeref as was the intention of that horrid human."

"How do we get Natsu back to normal?" asked Gray.

"Simple," replied Porlyusica. "You must partake in an act of love."

Natsu just blinked. "An…act of love?" What was that supposed to mean?

"Yes, now if you'll excuse me, I have wounded to tend to," said Porlyusica as she left the tent.

Everyone stood in silence for a few minutes, pondering the healer's words before Natsu lost it.

"That tells me nothing!" she screamed. "And will someone find me some damn clothes for crying out loud?! I'm tired of this stupid sheet!"

* * *

After a restless night of tossing and turning, the morning fared no differently. Rogue and Sting watched Natsu pace the tent furiously. She was started to create a trench in the ground.

"You're gonna have to leave sometime," said Sting as he played with his earring. "At least to let everyone know you're okay."

"And you have clothes now, so that's not an issue," stated Rogue.

"What is with you and the clothes?" snapped Natsu as she rounded on them. Her hair fluttered and landed atop her shoulders. Her chest had been wrapped with her scarf and a vest that somewhat matched her original one, completed her torso. Dark shorts that matched her vest adorned her legs, along with dark sandals. And thanks to Makarov, she also received her guild mark once again.

"Come on," said Sting as he approached her. "Let's go. I hate to say this, but you're making everyone worry. And we're kind of missing breakfast."

At the mention of food, Natsu felt her stomach growl. She sighed. "Okay. But if anyone says or does anything stupid, I want you to blast them with a roar or something, seeing as how I…can't."

"No problem," replied Sting as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. His hand got dangerously close to her chest. "I'll protect you."

"Sting?"

"Yeah?"

"Get your arm off me before I rip it off and beat you with it."

Who needed fire dragon-slaying magic when she was just as vicious with her words?

"Sure," he replied, reluctantly removing his arm. It felt kind of nice holding her like that.

Natsu took a deep breath and braced herself for the impact that would undoubtedly come. She left the tent.

And was immediately assaulted by a sobbing Happy. He launched himself into her arms crying about how he'd heard she'd returned last night but wasn't allowed to see her. It was then he noticed something _off_ about Natsu.

"Waah!" shouted Happy, flinging himself away from her arms. "Natsu's got boobies!"

A deadly silence filled the camp as all eyes turned toward Natsu. And then she did something she never thought she'd ever do; she kicked Happy into the sky. Her embarrassment and anger were enough to make her want to disappear into the ground.

The camp exploded in a torrent of questions, cat-calls, screams, suggestive remarks, whistles, and laughs. This was humiliating, utterly humiliating. If she could, she would blast them all with a good Fire Dragon's Roar, but she didn't have that anymore. She had nothing anymore. Tears stung her eyes. She wasn't strong enough for this, for any of this. "Sting?"

The dragon-slayer turned when he heard his name and saw the tears threatening to fall in Natsu's eyes. He turned back to face the camp. "Shut up!" he roared. Turning back to Natsu, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her. The tears finally let loose.

"I don't think I can do this, Sting. What am I going to do?"

"Natsu, you might not feel like you have the strength to tackle this just yet, so let _me_ be your strength for now. I'll help you through this, okay?" Sting felt her nod against his chest.

"Thank you, Sting. I don't know what I'd do without you," she replied softly.

 _BOOM!_

"Well, well. Look at all the fairies," a voice cackled in the direction of the explosion.

People screamed and began to scatter. If that emblem was any indication, the person was from the Alvarez Empire.

"Don't run fairies! I have a welcoming gift for you," the man said, brandishing a round lacrima. "I hope you enjoy it." He dropped the lacrima as he disappeared.

"Everybody down!" shouted Sting. "It's an Explosive Lacrima!"

People ran for cover when they were suddenly enveloped in a bright light.

* * *

Natsu coughed as the dust settled around her. A heavy weight seemed to be pressing her into the ground. "Sting?" She soon realized the heavy weight was the dragon-slayer. Had he covered her to protect her from the blast? "Sting!"

"Mm," he groaned. "No need to shout. I'm right here." He got off Natsu and sat on the ground. "That was a hell of a blast."

Natsu immediately got to her feet. "Is everyone okay? Is anybody hurt?"

Slowly, but surely, people began to stir in the rubble. Natsu's keen eyes took count of her loved ones. Some were injured, but for the most part, they looked shaken up. They seemed to be okay.

Until someone let out a heart wrenching scream.

"Bisca," Natsu gasped before bolting in the direction of the wailing sobs, Sting hot on her heels.

By the time they reached Bisca, Natsu felt the urge to vomit. Asuka—little Asuka—lay lifeless in her mother's arms. Alzack sat beside his wife, tears streaming down his face. Asuka was…gone.

"No," said Natsu. This wasn't right. Asuka was only a child. She was important; she was the future. Natsu could hear the whispers and crying from everyone else at their loss. Asuka was everyone's loss. She was…the future.

Before Natsu even knew what she was doing, her feet took her toward Bisca, Alzack, and little Asuka. Something kept urging her on to do something. What? She wasn't sure. It was as if her body knew what to do, even if her mind did not.

"Give her to me," Natsu said in a soothing voice that seemed to halt everyone's tears.

Bisca raised her head. "M-My baby. My b-baby girl is…is…"

"Shh," calmed Natsu, "it's okay. Give her to me."

"Natsu, what are you doing?" inquired Sting sharply. Did she not realize what she was asking? Bisca and Alzack's child had been taken from them and Natsu wanted to take her away.

"I'm not sure," she whispered back unsurely. "Bisca, please."

Bisca looked back down at her unmoving daughter. With all the strength she could muster, she handed Asuka to Natsu shakily.

As gently as she could, Natsu cradled the little girl in her arms. She now knew what she had to do. Raising her head, she spied the landscape until her eyes settled on what she was looking for. Her feet moved before her brain had a chance to catch up. She walked toward the lone cherry blossom tree that seemed to have survived the blast.

"Natsu, where are you going?" demanded Sting.

"Where are you taking my daughter?" cried Bisca, realizing that her child was being taken even further away from her.

"I need to fix this," said Natsu when she stopped in front of the tree, Asuka still cradled lifelessly in her arms. The tree was large and old, and had definitely seen many lifetimes. "I'll fix this."

Natsu turned, her back facing the tree. She closed her eyes, shifting Asuka's body so that she held the little girl outward and facing away from her, her hands resting under her arms.

Taking a deep breath, words Natsu didn't know she knew, left her lips. "Earth rests beneath us. Air flows above us. Fire burns within us. Water swirls around us. Spirit, please release us."

A soft light encircled Asuka's body as she seemed to be lifted from Natsu's hands into the air before her. _So this is Life_ Magic, she thought. Clasping her hands together as if in prayer, Natsu desperately concentrated on the task at hand.

Sting watched with a mixture of horror and fascination. The tree behind Natsu was starting to wither and die as the light surrounding Asuka grew bigger and bigger.

"A life for a life. A death for a death. I take the years from one, and give them to another. May balance be restored."

Suddenly, the cherry blossom tree disintegrated as it dissipated into thin air. The light surrounding Asuka seemed to disappear as well. Her small body lowered, her tiny feet touching the ground as she stood. Blearily, Asuka opened her eyes and yawned, stretching her arms above her head before lowering them and rubbing her eyes.

"Mommy? Daddy?" she called out. Asuka looked for her parents. When she spotted them, she couldn't help but run over. "What're you doing on the ground?"

"A-Asuka?" stammered Bisca, her eyes widening as a fresh set of tears streamed down her face. She pulled Asuka toward her, embracing her tightly. "My little baby girl."

"Asuka!" Alzack wrapped his arms around both his wife and small daughter. Asuka had returned to them. "Thank you!"

Natsu lowered her arms, her breathing ragged. Asuka was okay. The future was safe now. She could…rest.

"Natsu!" Sting shouted, racing toward her when she suddenly collapsed. He caught her and lowered her gently to the ground. "Natsu?" She wasn't responding. "Natsu!"

Zayin spied the situation from a distance. "It seems there are consequences to using this magic. I'll have to think on this," he muttered, disappearing once again.

Sting brushed Natsu's hair out of her face, tapping her cheeks in an attempt to wake her. He barely noticed the people gathering around them. Leaning down, he placed his ear to her chest. There was no heartbeat. Why wasn't there a heartbeat?

"Don't do this to me, Natsu!" Sting said, tears pooling in his eyes as he began chest compressions. He leaned down again, this time breathing air into her lungs before continuing the chest compressions. "Don't you _dare_ leave me!"

Sting continued the process over and over again, ignoring the people who told him to stop.

"Sting!" shouted Rogue, his voice cracking. "Natsu's…gone."

"No," Sting protested as the tears finally fell. Natsu couldn't be gone. She couldn't. He pressed his forehead to Natsu's and cupped her cheeks. Emotions he'd buried deep inside himself suddenly burst forth. "You can't leave me, Natsu. I love you!"

Sting heard a slow intake of breath that wasn't his own. Raising his head, he realized that is was Natsu who'd taken said breath.

"S-Sting?" she started as she opened her eyes, confusion evident on her face. "Why are you crying?"

The dragon-slayer responded by laughing as he pulled Natsu up into his arms. "I thought I lost you," he said, his fond emotions for her growing stronger by the minute. Swooping down, his warm lips met hers in a gentle kiss.

Natsu's eyes widened. Sting was kissing her! Why?! Sure, it felt absolutely fantastic and made butterflies swirl around in her stomach. Being kissed by him felt nice…really nice. He was such a—

"Pervert!" she screamed as a flaming fist punched Sting in the face. Natsu jumped to her feet. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you perverted asshole?!"

Sting cupped his cheek. He could already feel it swelling from the blazing impact. "But…I love you."

Natsu's face turned bright red. Now both fists were flaming. "So you kiss me instead of asking me out on a date like a normal person?!"

"You want me to ask you out on a date?"

Natsu pouted as she averted her eyes. "Maybe," she said quietly. She'd always had feelings for Sting, even as a guy. She never thought it'd be possible to act on them, though.

Sting grinned. He'd always admired and loved Natsu. Male, female, it didn't matter. He'd always loved Natsu. Then something dawned on him. "Wait a minute! I can't take you on a date! We're in the middle of a war!"

Natsu narrowed her eyes at him. "No date, no kiss, no nothing."

Sting gaped at her. "That's not fair! What do you expect me to do?"

"I don't know!"

Rogue couldn't take it anymore. "Natsu? Sting? I think you two have missed something really important."

"What?" they both questioned simultaneously.

"Natsu," he continued, "your magic seems to have returned."

"Huh?" Natsu glanced down at her fists which were still aflame. She had her fire dragon-slaying magic back! But why was she still a girl?! "Wait! I didn't change back into a guy?"

"Of course you didn't," interrupted Porlyusica. "You said you wanted a way to change back."

"Into a guy!"

Porlyusica raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid I can't do anything about that. But you did change back into a fire dragon-slayer, yes? Be grateful for Sting's act of love."

"Act of love?"

"Yes. Sting told you he loved you, the ability to use Life Magic vanished from your body and was replaced by your original magic, therefore nullifying the consequences of using it. Foolish humans," she spat before stomping off.

"Natsu?" started Sting. "Are you okay? Being a girl, I mean."

"It's…going to take some getting used to, but I think I'm okay with it. But…if I did turn back into a guy, would you still…l-lo…l-love me?" she asked cautiously.

Sting approached Natsu and pulled her against his chest, arms around her waist. "Yes, Natsu. I would. And you?"

"Would I still love you if you turned into a girl?"

Sting frowned. "You know what I mean!"

"I know," Natsu laughed. "I'm just teasing you. If I turned back into a guy, my feelings for you would be the same."

"And those feelings would be?"

"Oh, _very_ irritated."

"Natsu," Sting growled.

"I'm just _teasing_ ," she laughed, her arms slowly circling around his neck. "I love you, too."

Sting positively beamed. He hastily swooped down and kissed her again. This time, he was also met with a flaming fist.

"I said I wanted a date first!"

"Wait! You were _serious_?!"

* * *

 **Author's Note – Another weird brain baby. I couldn't get it out of my head. I may continue this story with another one of the themes. What do you think?**

 ***Next Theme – Light***


	3. Light

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: A cute little moment between Wendy and Sting.

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating K+.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Light (Rated K+)**

Wendy stared at Sting for a few moments as she tried to gather the courage she needed to speak to the older dragon-slayer. Straightening herself up, she marched over him, determined to say what she had to say.

"Um, Sting?" she started hesitantly. Where was her bravery from a second ago?

The light dragon-slayer looked up at her with a bright smile. "Yeah, Wendy? What is it?"

The young girl began to fidget where she stood. "I was just…wondering if I could…um…"

"Wondering if you could?"

Wendy took a deep breath. "CAN I TEACH YOU SKY DRAGON-SLAYER MAGIC?!" As soon as the words left her mouth, she clamped her hands over it. She hadn't meant to be so loud, but she was _so_ nervous.

Sting blinked a few times before responding. "Uh, what?"

"C-Can I teach you sky dragon-slayer magic?" she repeated, this time much more softly.

The light dragon-slayer chuckled. "Why do you want to teach me your magic? I mean, it's sweet of you to offer, but why?"

Wendy stared at the ground, gently toeing it wither her right foot. "It fits you," she mumbled.

Had it not been for his dragon-slayer hearing, he wouldn't have heard her words. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean?"

"You used light dragon-slayer magic," Wendy began, "which allows you to produce and control light. Your magic is pure; it's holy. That's why I believe teaching you sky dragon-slayer magic fits you. You're the essence of light. The ability to heal others would complement you greatly."

Sting had watched Wendy fumble through her explanation, but he had listened to her carefully. She was a sweet girl, and her heart was in the right place, however…

"I think you've got it wrong," he said.

Wendy's head snapped up. "Huh?"

"You've got it wrong. I shouldn't learn sky dragon-slayer magic." Sting backtracked when he noticed the crestfallen look on the younger dragon-slayer's face. "Wait. That came out wrong. What I mean is that I think I should be teaching _you_ light dragon-slayer magic, if anything. You're the purest and most innocent of all of us. You risk your life to heal others, especially in the face of danger. If anyone is worthy of harnessing the power of light, it's you."

"But…I-I'm not—"

Sting interrupted her by placing his hand on her head, slightly ruffling her hair. "Yes you are. Never think you're not worthy, not even for a second. You're just as powerful as any of us, maybe even more so."

Wendy sighed, her bottom lip jutting out in thought. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

"Let's make a deal," said Sting, interrupting her thoughts. "How about we both teach each other our magic?"

"You mean I teach you and you teach me?"

"Yeah. Would you like that?"

Wendy thought on it for a minute. It sounded…nice. She nodded eagerly.

Sting laughed. "And won't the others be in for a surprise when they find out. So for now, it'll be our little secret," he said with a huge grin.

Wendy smiled in response. "Okay!"

* * *

 **Author's Note – Short and sweet! Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Dark***


	4. Dark

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: A touching moment between Gajeel and Rogue.

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T for TEEN.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Dark (Rated T)**

"I smell a shadow brat," mumbled Gajeel when he entered his home. He'd just returned from a long solo mission, and he was looking forward to eating some iron and then sleeping for at least three days.

Those plans flew through the window when he caught the scent of a familiar shadow dragon-slayer. But what was he doing here? And where was he?

Setting down in his things in a messy heap on the floor, Gajeel trudged through his simple apartment in search of Rogue. He checked all of the potential spots the younger dragon-slayer could have been hiding, but he wasn't in any of them.

Crossing his arms, Gajeel growled. Where the hell was he? Maybe…

The iron dragon-slayer marched to his bedroom. Well, the scent was definitely stronger in here, but Rogue was nowhere to be seen. Crouching on the floor, Gajeel peeked under the bed. Nothing. Well, it was worth a shot.

 _Sniff._

Gajeel's head whipped around at the sound and he raised himself from the floor. The closet? Really?

Ripping the closet door open, Gajeel stared down at Rogue, who was sitting on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest. "Why the hell are you sitting in the dark in my closet of all places?"

Rogue gradually raised his head, turning his tear-filled eyes toward the other dragon-slayer. "Shadows are meant to be in the dark."

Gajeel swallowed a groan. He didn't even want to get started on how much that didn't make sense. Instead, he asked, "What's got you all worked up?"

Rogue remained silent.

"You must be here for a reason. What is it?"

Rogue tightened his arms around his legs before he whispered, "I'm afraid."

Gajeel sighed and sat down on the floor in front of Rogue. "What're you afraid of?" It was best to get to the root of the problem.

"Myself."

The iron dragon-slayer frowned. Was this because of the whole future-Rogue incident? "You have no reason to be afraid of yourself."

"Yes, I do!" Rogue cried. "I know…what my future self said…did. What if history is doomed to repeat itself and I…and I…kill the ones I love?"

"You're not gonna do that," Gajeel stated firmly.

Rogue glared at him in response. "You don't know that!"

"Yes, I do," said Gajeel, echoing Rogue's earlier words.

"How can you know?! Do you have any idea what it's like to have a darkness follow you wherever you go?"

"I do…understand." Even Gajeel seemed surprised by his own words. "You remember that I used to be in Phantom Lord, right?"

Rogue nodded.

"Did you know that I attacked Fairy Tail? I destroyed the guild, I _crucified_ three members, and I pretty much tortured Lucy. Those are my greatest sins, my darkness. What I've done haunts me to this day. Sure, I joined Fairy Tail, and I was forgiven for the most part, but I never forgave myself for the crimes I committed against innocent people. And I will spend the rest of my life trying to atone for those sins. So don't go whining about a darkness following you, Rogue. You haven't given into the darkness."

Rogue swallowed roughly, his fear eating away at him. "But what if I do…give into the darkness?"

"You won't," Gajeel insisted.

"What makes you believe that?"

Gajeel smirked. "You've got too many people who care about you to let the darkness grab hold. If you feel like you can't face the darkness on your own, then you seek out the ones who can light it up."

"Does…Levy do that for you?"

The smirk disappeared, only to be replaced by a blush. "Hey! We're not talking about me right now, shadow brat! I'm trying to help you and shit!"

A small smile finally crept onto Rogue's face.

"Don't get all sappy on me, either! You want someone to chase away that darkness, ask Sting or Salamander or somebody."

"Thank you, Gajeel. You're very kind."

Gajeel averted his eyes as he crossed his arms. "Tell anybody and the darkness will be the least of your fears," he grumbled.

The iron dragon-slayer's rough speech had made him feel more at peace, less afraid. Rogue just needed to remember that he had people who loved him and were there to help him keep his darkness at bay.

* * *

 **Author's Note – I had a hard time coming up with an idea for this theme. I hope you liked it!**

 ***Next Theme – Seeking Solace***


	5. Seeking Solace

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Gray says something that devastates Natsu. Gajeel is there to pick up the pieces.

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T for TEEN.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Seeking Solace (Rated T)**

"Stupid flamebrain."

"Bastard exhibitionist."

The insults had ensued for nearly two hours, ever since Natsu and Gray had completed their mission, albeit somewhat unsuccessfully.

The mission had requested the services of a fire mage and ice mage, something about defeating some strange, elemental bandits or something. Since Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Carla, and Happy had already taken another mission—Happy had wanted to be with Carla—it was just Natsu and Gray. No one was there to break up their imminent fight.

Sure, they'd defeated the so-called bandits, but had also they damaged the town in the process due to their forthcoming competitiveness. Scorched and frozen buildings now littered the outskirts of the town.

And that meant no reward.

As soon as the two mages entered Magnolia, the rage Gray had been trying to keep under control finally unleashed.

"Just stop it!" he snapped, rounding on Natsu after his latest insult of him being a stripper. "I don't even know why I put up with you! You're nothing but a useless moron! You can't do anything right! You're absolutely worthless! It's no wonder Igneel abandoned you!" Gray knew he shouldn't have said it, but he was just too angry.

Natsu's eyes widened at the declaration, and for once, he was silent. _Abandoned?_ Sure, the thought had crossed his mind before, but he'd brushed it off as a figment of his imagination. But hearing someone say that to him…could it actually be true? Was he really that useless, worthless even? Is that why Igneel left him?

Gray turned on his heel and headed toward the guild, satisfied that he'd finally shut the stupid flamebrain up. _Serve him right_ , he thought.

Natsu, on the other hand, was left standing at the entrance of Magnolia, his heart feeling like it had been ripped in half. Ever so slowly, he entered the city, but he didn't head for the guild. He went where he didn't think anyone would be able to find him.

* * *

"It's good to be home," said Erza as she and the rest of her companions returned from their mission.

"Thank goodness," added Lucy. "I didn't think we'd ever get out of that storm. It's really coming down."

Wendy squeezed some water out of her drenched hair. "It's so cold," she said with a shiver." Carla hummed in agreement.

"I'm gonna find Natsu," said Happy when he spotted Gray. He flew over to the ice mage, expecting his friend to be with him since they'd been on a mission together, but the dragon-slayer was nowhere in sight. "Gray, where's Natsu?"

The ice mage shrugged. "Beats me. He never came to the guild."

Erza narrowed her eyes. "Oh? And why is that?" Gray cringed at the threatening tone that seeped into her words. "Were you fighting?"

"M-Maybe?"

Lucy sighed. "Gray, can't you two just get along for once?"

"He started it!" protested Gray. "We didn't get the reward because of him! The damage to the town was insane!"

Carla huffed. "Are you _really_ saying that it was only Natsu who caused the damage?"

"Well…no, but he did most of it!"

As the others continued to squabble with Gray, an uneasy feeling came over Wendy. Something was wrong. She could sense it.

"Wendy!"

"Huh?"

Carla sighed. "I've been calling your name for the past two minutes. Did the mission really take that much out of you?"

Wendy shook her head. "It's not that. It's…" What was this feeling?

A chair suddenly clattered to the ground. All eyes darted toward the source of the sound. Gajeel stood, staring intently at the doors of the guild, Levy staring at him in confusion.

"Gajeel?" she started.

"Something doesn't feel right," said Gajeel as he took a hesitant step toward the door.

"You feel it, too?" asked Wendy.

The two dragon-slayers locked eyes. "Natsu," they both said before racing out of the guild.

* * *

Natsu sat in a small outcropping near the end of the river, letting the torrential rain soak into his freezing skin.

Useless.

Worthless.

Abandoned.

Those three words continued haunting his mind and heart; they seemed to be the only thing that mattered. He didn't even care that his body was slowly starting to grow numb from the cold.

Why did those words affect him so much? Was it because he really did think he was useless? He wasn't, was he? Was he truly as worthless as Gray made him out to be? Was that why Igneel left him? Because he was some worthless, useless waste of space?

Maybe he was. He had to have been, right? He'd been found by Igneel, seemingly abandoned. And then when he'd found happiness again, Igneel left him, too. Was he destined to repeat this process over and over again? When someone realized how useless and worthless he was, they would abandon him? Would it happen again?

 _It already has_ , Natsu thought to himself. Gray told him those very words and had left him… _abandoned_ him.

Natsu halted his thoughts when a wave of dizziness struck him. Placing a hand to his head, he swallowed thickly as he waited for the lightheadedness to pass. When it did, he continued to wallow in his grief.

What if everyone else left him, too? What if the members of Fairy Tail left him? What if his _dragon family_ left him? Tears trickled down his face, blending with the rain at the thought of even losing them.

"Natsu?"

The soft, concerned voice of Wendy drew him from his dark thoughts. He turned to look at her, worry and alarm evident in her eyes. Gajeel stood behind her with a similar expression.

"Salamander?" said Gajeel as he stepped closer to the fire dragon-slayer and knelt in front of him.

The tender tone that Gajeel desperately tried to control seemed to be Natsu's breaking point. He let out a sob, crying in anguish. "G-Gajeel-nii!" he whimpered.

Gajeel paused and stared at Natsu apprehensively. It wasn't often the fire dragon-slayer called him that; he was too embarrassed to call him that. The only time he did was when he'd reached his breaking point, which had only happened to him once before. Just what had reduced Natsu to this state?

"Hey," said Gajeel, reaching for Natsu. He rubbed the dragon-slayer's arm with a gloved hand. "Let's get you out of the cold, hm?"

"I don't feel cold," Natsu mumbled. "Don't feel…anything."

He didn't feel anything? How long had Natsu been out here? "Come on. Let's go to the guild. We'll warm you up, get some food in you, and you'll be good as new," said Gajeel, trying to keep his anxiety in check. He did not like the condition Natsu was in right now.

Natsu shook his head. "No. You'll just leave me, too. You'll abandon me," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

At this, Wendy spoke up. "We're not going to abandon you," she said, confused by his words. She approached the fire dragon-slayer and grabbed his hand, which was icy to the touch. "Let's go back to the guild. Together."

Natsu shook his head again. "Why even bother? I'm useless…and worthless…right?"

 _Useless and worthless?_ thought Gajeel. _Who the hell put these ideas into his head?_ "Salamander, you're not useless. And you sure as hell ain't worthless. We're not gonna leave you. Now let's go. We need to get you out of the rain."

Natsu believed that those words _should_ have given him comfort, but they didn't. He wasn't sure he could trust those words. And besides, even if he wanted to return to the guild with Gajeel and Wendy, he'd lost all feel in his limbs from the incessant cold.

"Gajeel-nii?" said Natsu softly after the iron dragon-slayer had stood and offered him his hand. "I…I…"

Natsu didn't have a chance to finish his thoughts. His physical and mental turmoil finally caught up with him. The fire dragon-slayer passed out.

"Natsu!"

* * *

The members of Fairy Tail jolted when the front doors of the guild were suddenly kicked open and a furious Gajeel—followed by a trepid Wendy—holding a pale and unconscious Natsu in his arms.

"Someone send for Porlyusica!" he shouted. Jet immediately took off, seeing as how he'd retrieve her the fastest.

Master Makarov, quickly pursued by the rest of Team Natsu, approached the iron dragon-slayer. "What happened?" inquired the guild master.

A low, threatening growl came from Gajeel, making everyone—save Makarov—back away.

"Gajeel," Makarov began firmly. "What happened?"

The iron dragon-slayer then let out a noise that sounded a little like a whine. "He's been out in the rain this whole time. He…passed out." Gajeel didn't want to reveal any more than that for the time being.

Makarov frowned in thought. "Let's get him to the infirmary and out of those wet clothes."

Gajeel nodded and quickly made his way there, Wendy hot on his heels. When they entered one of the small rooms of the infirmary, Gajeel started removing Natsu's wet clothes while Wendy found something for him to change into. Once Natsu was redressed and placed into the infirmary bed, Wendy began an analysis of the fire dragon-slayer's condition while they waited for Porlyusica.

"He has a _really_ high fever," said Wendy, sitting down in a chair next to Natsu. "But I'm more worried for his mental state.

Gajeel grunted in agreement. What had brought Natsu to such a state? Surely, someone had to have said something to him that struck a nerve. But who?

Wendy suddenly gasped. "I-I think…I know why Natsu was talking like that."

The iron dragon-slayer turned his attention from Natsu to Wendy. "Who?" he ground out.

"I-It might have been…G-Gray."

Gajeel left the infirmary. He had an ice mage to kill.

* * *

"Poor Natsu," said Lucy. "I wonder why he was out in the rain like that."

Erza crossed her arms and scowled. Something wasn't right about this.

"Natsu," moaned Happy.

"Whatever. If that idiot was stupid enough to stay out in this weather, then he deserves to get sick," said Gray.

The response to his statement was an iron fist to his face, which sent him flying into a wall.

Cupping his bruising face, Gray glared at his attacker. "What the _hell_ , Gajeel?!"

The iron dragon-slayer glared furiously at the ice mage. "What did you say to him?" he growled.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You _know_ what I'm talking about!" snapped Gajeel, lifting Gray into the air by the collar of his shirt. "I'm only gonna ask you one more time. What did you say to Natsu? He wasn't sitting out in the rain for no reason! You said something to him!"

"Gajeel, let him go," demanded Erza. "Let's speak civilly.

Reluctantly, Gajeel removed his hands from the ice mage. "Tell me what you said."

"We were just fighting like we normally do, with the normal insults and stuff," said Gray as he straightened out his shirt—by taking it off.

The iron dragon-slayer shook his head. "No. Something was different this time. You _hurt_ him. Now tell me what you said before I beat it out of you!"

"Why the hell do you even care?"

"Because unlike your stripper ass, I care about him! He's like a baby brother to me, and if you hurt my baby brother, you sure as hell better expect me to hurt you!" Gajeel shouted.

"Okay!" said Gray as he anxiously rubbed the back of his neck. "When we got back from our mission, I kind of…snapped at him. I…called him useless and worthless."

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the ice mage, noticing how Gray quickly averted his eyes. "You said something else, didn't you? What was it?"

At this, Gray looked ashamed. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "After I told him he was useless and worthless, I said…it's no wonder Igneel abandoned you."

A deathly silence fell on the guild as Gajeel shook with rage. "You son of a bitch," he ground out. "Do you have any idea how your words affected him?"

Gray nervously shook his head.

"He already thought that his birth parents abandoned him and then you go and tell him Igneel did the same! So he sat out there in the rain growing numb from the cold while believing that he really was useless and worthless and that everyone would leave him one day! How could you do something like that?!"

"I…I-I'm sorry," stammered Gray.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"Am I interrupting something," announced Porlyusica, shaking the water droplets off her cloak. "I heard there was a patient who needed my attention."

"In the infirmary. I'll take you," offered Lucy. She couldn't bear to be in the same room as Gray at the moment.

Gajeel gave Gray one finally glare before following them to the infirmary.

* * *

Gajeel sat next to Natsu's bed, brushing a few strands of hair out of his eyes. His fever had finally broken. Porlyusica gave him some medicine and said that he should be fine in a few days, as long as he got some bed rest.

"Mm," Natsu grunted as he gradually opened his eyes. When his vision cleared, he found a concerned Gajeel staring at him. "Gajeel?"

"Welcome back to the land of the living," responded the iron dragon-slayer.

Natsu tried to swallow, but his throat felt rough and dry. Gajeel seemed to read his mind, for he raised a glass of water to his lips, which the fire dragon-slayer drank greedily.

"How long?"

"Have you been asleep?" Natsu nodded. "About a day. You nearly froze yourself to death out in the rain."

He had? Why was he out in the rain? Three words suddenly flashed through his mind as he remembered the previous day's events. A slight smack to his forehead drew him away from those thoughts.

"What was that for?" snapped Natsu.

"You were thinking about what Gray told you," said Gajeel. "I want you to stop it. You should know that the words that come out of his mouth are a load of crap."

So, Gajeel knew. "But what if it's true?"

"It's not true. You're not useless. You're not worthless. You never have been. Sure, you get into a little trouble now and again, but who doesn't? And don't you dare believe that Igneel abandoned you, because that would mean Metalicana and Grandine abandoned me and Wendy, too. And I don't believe that. Our dragons loved us."

Natsu's hands began to fidget. "I'm just worried that everyone else will leave me, too."

"That ain't gonna happen," insisted Gajeel. "Fairy Tail is your home. _Our_ home. We're family. And even if we fight with each other now and again, we're still here for each other. We're not gonna leave you. _I'm_ not gonna leave you. Now stop thinking those gloomy thoughts."

Natsu felt content by those words. His attempt to thank Gajeel was drowned out by a large yawn.

Gajeel smirked. "Looks like somebody needs a nap."

"Shut up," Natsu replied tiredly as he settled down into the bed. He grew confused when Gajeel attempted tucking him in. "What're you doing?"

"Just…let me look after you," he growled. In a much softer voice, he said, "You scared the shit out of me yesterday. I never want to see you like that again. If someone hurts you, I want you to come get me. Let your big brother handle it, okay?"

Natsu smiled softly at that. "Sure…Gajeel-nii," he replied, his voice thick with sleep. Before he drifted off, he said. "Stay?"

Gajeel made himself more comfortable on the chair next to Natsu's bed. "I'll stay. I'm not going anywhere."

Satisfied with his answer, Natsu let himself fall into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

 **Author's Note – What did you think of this one? Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Break Away***


	6. Break Away

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Sting tries to prove to Rogue that he doesn't need the shadow dragon-slayer with him all the time.

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T for TEEN.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Break Away (Rated T)**

When Sting told Rogue that he wanted to _break away_ from him a little bit, the shadow dragon-slayer raised an eyebrow.

According to Rogue, _to break away_ meant _to escape from someone's hold_ , which he swore that wasn't the case between them. If anything, Rogue believed his constant presence around the light dragon-slayer kept him from doing stupid things, things which would surely either land him in prison or worse.

So when Sting announced to Rogue that he was going to go grocery shopping _on his own_ —like a regular human being—he couldn't help but feel anxious.

"Come on, Rogue. It'll be fine!" Sting insisted, bouncing up and down with a giddy expression on his face.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea."

"You never let me do anything on my own! You're always there!"

"That's probably why you're still alive right now," Rogue mumbled under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing," Rogue sighed. "I understand your need to…break away, as you put it, but do you really think shopping for our groceries is the best way to start? Why not walk around the town first?"

"It's just shopping! What could possibly go wrong?" Sting asked. When Rogue's expression didn't change, he decided on a compromise. "Tell you what. You can give me a list. Make it simple. I'll go to the store, just get what's on your list, and come home. That should suffice, right?"

Rogue hummed in thought. Maybe…that wouldn't be _too_ bad. He'd already thought of the meals he'd make for the week, meaning he had a grocery list written up already. But he couldn't shake his uneasy feeling. "You promise that's all you'll do? You'll go to the store, get the things on the list, and come straight home?"

Sting nodded eagerly, his hands clasped together in excitement. If he'd been a dog, his tail surely would have been wagging.

Rogue took a deep breath and exhaled slowly to calm his nerves. He just knew he was going to regret this. "Fine."

"Yes! Thanks, Rogue! I won't let you down!"

* * *

Sting entered the grocery store happily, list clenched in his right hand. This was so exciting! His first trip to the grocery store by himself! He didn't know why Rogue never let him out of his sight. It's not like grocery shopping was that hard. He'd watched Rogue do it plenty of times.

Grabbing a shopping cart, he excitedly read the first item of Rogue's list. "A handful of bananas," he muttered. That was over in the fruit!

Swinging his cart to the left, he immediately struck the display of apples. Sting cringed as he waited for them to fall. They didn't. He sighed in relief. That was a close call.

Carefully maneuvering the cart this time, he made for the bananas. When he got there, he paused. "Dammit, Rogue. How much is a handful?" He stared at the bananas for a full three minutes before grabbing twenty of them. Hey, he ate a lot and really liked bananas.

"Okay, next thing on the list. Two avocados." Avocados? Those _green_ things Rogue made him eat? Those were disgusting! No matter how many times Rogue told him they were an acquired taste, he still couldn't manage them.

Sting stared at the avocados in the aisle and weighed his options. He could tell Rogue the store didn't have any, but then he'd probably just go to the store himself and discover he'd lied. Groaning, Sting grabbed two large ones and put them in his shopping cart. Just because he got them didn't mean he'd eat them.

Now it was onto the vegetables. "Asparagus. What the hell is asparagus?" Was it some kind of mushroom or something?

Heading over to the vegetables, he carefully scanned the tiny signs that indicated what was what. Finally, he found the asparagus. "Ew, what _is_ this?" he snarled, lifting the bunch of green spear-like objects. They looked like something from the bottom of the ocean. He wasn't eating this! Reluctantly, however, he put it in the cart.

"Carrots." Now that was something he could get behind. That shouldn't be so hard.

At least, that's what he initially thought until he saw the various kinds. There were carrots that were loose, carrots in bags, carrots in bunches with tops, carrots in bunches with no tops, and something called baby carrots. How was he supposed to choose? He didn't know what Rogue wanted!

"Hell, I'll just get them all. He can't be mad at me for that." Satisfied with his decision, he loaded his cart with each set of carrots and moved onto the next item on the list.

"Feta cheese." Huh. He'd never heard of this cheese before. Making his way over to the dairy section, Sting rummaged through the cheeses until he came across a small container with said cheese. Why the hell was it crumbled? Who wanted crumbled cheese? Had it gone bad? "Whatever." If Rogue wanted Feta, he was getting Feta.

"Okay, now I've got the get Greek yogurt." Again, it was something he was unfamiliar with. Yogurt was yogurt, wasn't it?

When Sting finally found the Greek yogurt, his curiosity got the better of him. Picking up one of the small containers, he peeled off the lid, stuck his finger inside, brought his finger to his lips, and licked off the yogurt.

He immediately gagged. "Ugh! Why is it so sour?!"

"Sir!"

Sting head snapped to his right, where a peeved employee stood. "Uh, yes?"

"You can't eat the merchandise before paying for it!"

"But how am I supposed to know if I like it or not?"

The employee pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sir, it goes against store policy. There is no sampling here."

"Well, then maybe you should change your policy."

"Sir, keep it up and I'll have to ask you to leave," stated the employee.

Sting held his tongue. He didn't want that, otherwise Rogue would be saying 'I told you so' for the rest of his days. "I'm…sorry."

The employee grunted. "I'll let you slide this time, but you'll have to pay for the yogurt when you check out. Understood?"

Sting nodded. The employee seemed satisfied with his answer and walked away, leaving the light dragon-slayer to stare at the Greek yogurt in his hand. He set it neatly in the cart and grabbed a couple more. He hoped Rogue would be pleased, because he sure as well wasn't.

"All right, now I've got to get eggs." Finally, something he liked. Sting proceeded to the eggs. Since Rogue never indicated how many he wanted, the light dragon-slayer settled on five dozen. That should be enough. He had to eat something; there was no way in hell he was eating avocados, asparagus, and Greek yogurt.

"Next up, granola." That shouldn't be too hard. Once Sting found the aisle with the granola, his jaw dropped. Why were there so many kinds?!

Sting firmly believed he spent half an hour staring at the granola, debating which kind and flavor to get. What did Rogue like, anyway? Finally, after much deliberation, he settled on a crunchy vanilla granola.

"Now that that's done, I have to get quinoa. What the hell is quinoa?" What was with Rogue and these weird foods?!

"Um, excuse me?" Sting asked once he found an available employee. "Can you help me out?"

To the employee's dismay, it was the yogurt thief. "What do you need?"

"I need…quinoa. And to be honest, I have no idea what it is. My friend made the list."

The employee raised his eyebrow. "Off shopping by yourself, are you?" Sting nodded. "Hm, this way."

Sting followed the man to an area with large dispensers, each of them containing a different item.

"Here's the quinoa," he said.

Sting stared at the dispenser. What was he supposed to do? Grab the whole thing?

Noticing the customer's hesitation, the employee explained what to do. "You grab a bag, open it, place it beneath the opening of the dispenser, and slide the lever. It'll release the quinoa. When you get the amount you want, slide the lever back, close the bag, and tie it off with a tie."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Sting did as the man had instructed. He watched in fascination as the bag began filling with quinoa. Figuring he had enough, he slid the lever bad to stop the flow of quinoa.

The lever snapped.

The bag kept filling.

"Shit!" shouted Sting. "It won't stop!"

The employee burst into action. Shoving Sting out of the way, he shoved a handful of bags into the dispenser to temporarily stop it from releasing the quinoa. He growled in agitation. This customer was going to kill him.

"I'm…sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Of course, you didn't," he replied. "How much is left on your list?"

Sting glanced down at the paper in his hands. "Um, just two more things. Why?"

"I'm going to help you finish your shopping," he said. _Before anything else goes wrong_.

"O…kay? Well, I need a rotisserie chicken."

The employee grabbed Sting's cart and took them to the deli. "Pick one."

"Wait. It's an already cooked chicken?"

The employee resisted the urge to slam his head against the cart. "Yes. Now pick one."

Sting got closer to the chickens and stared at them. They all looked so good and smelled so tasty. Grabbing the biggest one he could find, he put it in the cart."

"What else?"

"Now I need two fillets of fresh salmon," said Sting.

"Right. This way."

When they reached the seafood, Sting couldn't help but say, "They're not cooked."

"What did you think _fresh_ meant?!"

The light dragon-slayer shrugged and stared at the fish. "Which one's the salmon?"

The employee groaned. He'd never, in all his life, come across someone who didn't know food. Why the hell was this person even shopping by himself? "You know what? I'll just get it for you."

Sting grinned. "Thanks!"

* * *

Rogue didn't know what to expect when Sting finally came home. He'd been gone for two hours. It wasn't like the grocery store was that far away.

"Why do you have so many bags?" asked Rogue, eyeing the four grocery bags warily as Sting set them on the counter, a huge grin on his face.

"Hey, I did this all by myself, so don't complain," said Sting.

Rogue sighed and moved to the first bag, which was completely filled with bananas. "Why did you get so many?"

"I like bananas. And you didn't actually tell me how many to get."

Rogue rolled his eyes and moved onto the second bag and saw an assortment of carrots. "What are we supposed to do with all of these?!"

"Eat them?"

"You bought nearly twenty pounds of carrots!" Rogue shouted before moving onto the third bag. This one seemed much better save for one thing. "Sting?"

"Yes, Rogue?"

"Why is there a chicken carcass in here?"

Sting had the decency to look bashful. "I…kinda got hungry on the way home," he said. "Hey! Don't look at me like that! It smelled _so_ good! How could I not eat it?"

Finally, Rogue moved onto the fourth and final bag. Well, at least Sting had gotten everything on the list. But it seemed they'd be living off of carrots and bananas for awhile. He'd have to get really creative in the kitchen.

Rogue reached down into the bag and pulled out the receipt. Well, it wasn't _too_ bad. _Huh? What's this?_

The shadow dragon-slayer turned the receipt over to find a handwritten message.

 _To Whom It May Concern,_

 _Never let this person go shopping on his own again! He is lucky he wasn't forcibly removed from the store. Furthermore, you will be receiving a bill for damages pertaining to a quinoa dispenser. Have a nice day._

 _Sincerely,_

 _A Disgruntled Employee_

"So, did I do well, Rogue?"

Rogue pocketed the receipt. "You did as I expected you would."

* * *

 **Author's Note – I wasn't quite sure what to do for this theme. I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Dream***


	7. Dream

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Zeref forces one of his own memories into Natsu's land of dreams.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T for TEEN.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Dream (Rated T)**

" _Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, ends with a tear. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one smiling and everyone around you is crying."_

If only life was truly that simple. And for the newly created Dragneel family, it really wasn't.

Aki and Haru Dragneel, having only been married for nineteen months—six of those months with their newborn, Zeref Dragneel—were at their wits' end. Having a six-month-old baby boy should have brought nothing but joy and wonderful prospects for the future for such a young and seemingly happy couple.

However, having a child so soon had done nothing but create a rift between them. One they weren't sure they could mend.

Ever since Zeref had been born, Haru had done nothing but devote all of her time and energy to raising their young child, leaving Aki to earn their income. But every time he left for a job and returned home, he began to notice that his young wife paid little to no attention to him at all. It made him feel as if he were worth nothing but the reward he received.

And maybe that was true.

This was what probably led him to his first moment of weakness: giving into the advances of someone who made him feel like more of a person rather than an empty shell that brought home the bacon.

And when Aki's wife had found the not-so-innocent note in his jacket pocket, both of their worlds seemed to crumble.

"What is this?" Haru screeched, flailing the note in her husband's face. "How dare you do this us!"

"Us? What us? You spend every waking minute with Zeref and ignore me completely! And what you've said in the last thirty seconds is more than what you've said to me for the past week!"

"What? Are you jealous that I'm taking care of our _son_?"

Aki paused. "Yes. I am saying that. If you'd give me the time of day, _maybe_ this wouldn't have happened. Can you really blame me for wanting affection—from _anyone_ —when I can't even get it from my _wife_? And you won't even let me take Zeref off your hands because you think I'm incapable of being a father!"

"You're incapable of being a husband as well if you're going to cheat on me!" Haru hissed. "I can't believe you did this. I'm telling your mother…and I'm going to tell her what you've done."

He knew she'd do something like this. But his mother would just tell him not to do it again and that would be the end of it. If Haru would only be his _wife_ , then he'd swear this would never happen again. Never.

"Do you have nothing to say for yourself?" questioned Haru, looking lost now that her anger had dissipated.

"What more do you want me to say? Do you want me to tell you that this will never happen again? Do you want me to get down on my knees and apologize to you? Is that what you want?" he snapped.

"It's a start," she replied quietly. "I want us to have a second chance at this… _us_."

Haru wanted more than anything for things to work out between them, but it was becoming too much. The honeymoon was over. This was the real world—real life. Nothing could have prepared either of them for this.

They were too young. They'd moved too fast. But it was too late now.

A sharp cry from Zeref startled the both of them out of their thoughts.

"You should go get him," Aki hissed, crossing his arms as a flash of jealousy graced his features.

Haru swallowed hard as she went to attend Zeref. Picking him up in her arms, she shushed him until he was quiet before setting him back down. Gripping the sides of his crib, her knuckles turned white. But when Aki placed a hand over hers, she relaxed.

Looking back up at him, she saw something else in his eyes. Or perhaps it was a reflection of what was in her own.

Either way, when they both gazed back down at their child, a new feeling washed over them in the pits of their stomachs.

Hate.

It was hate.

They _hated_ that Zeref had come between them. He'd ruined everything, even though it wasn't really his fault. But the nagging feeling wouldn't go away. Whether it was because they needed someone to blame or they just honestly hated him, they didn't really know.

And they didn't really care.

If anything, agreeing to hate the child who'd caused this mess brought them a step closer to being together again. However screwed up that was didn't matter. They'd make things work…even if it killed them.

* * *

Natsu woke from his dream covered in sweat, tears running down his face. "Zeref," he cried. "I didn't know. I didn't _know_!"

Zeref had sent him the dream—or memory—as it were for a reason. For what reason, Natsu wasn't sure; however, it did provide him with a deeper understanding of his brother and why he might be the way he was.

* * *

 **Author's Note – This theme stumped me for quite some time. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Innocence***


	8. Innocence

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Wendy joins Fairy Tail.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating K+.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Innocence (Rated K+)**

Wendy clutched the back of Natsu's shirt, shaking like a leaf behind him as they stood outside the guild doors.

Lucy put a comforting hand on the young girl's shoulder. "It's okay. There's no need to be scared."

"Exactly," added Erza. "You need not be afraid."

Gray just grunted in agreement while Happy continued to shove a fish in Charle's upturned face.

Natsu could smell the nervousness on Wendy. Releasing her hands from his shirt, he turned around and crouched in front of the girl. "Everything's gonna be fine. Fairy Tail's like one big family. It's lots of fun, and we're always together."

"Family?" said the small girl. When Natsu nodded, her nerves settled just a tad.

"You ready?" asked the fire mage, extending his hand toward Wendy. She took his hand in hers and he led her through the guild doors behind the others. "We're back!"

"WHAT WERE YOU BRATS THINKING?! DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAMAGES YOU'VE CAUSED?!" Master Makarove roared immediately.

"Hey, it wasn't our fault we were dealing with psychopaths!" retaliated Gray.

"I've got half a mind to ban you from missions for at least a month!" Makarov stated while he continued his rant. At least until he noticed the small girl clutching Natsu's hand. His mood changed immediately. "And who is this?"

Everyone in the guild stared at the little girl curiously, especially when she whined and looked up at Natsu.

"It's okay. Go ahead," he encouraged in a gentle voice, which only made his guild mates falter. He wasn't known for being…gentle.

Wendy reluctantly released his hand and stepped in front of Natsu, making a quick bow before Master Makarov. "M-My name is W-Wendy Marvell, a-and I'd l-like to j-join F-Fairy Tail."

"It would be a pleasure to have you join us," said Makarov. "I am Makarov Dreyar, Master of Fairy Tail. Where would you like your guild mark?"

"My guild mark?" replied Wendy. She clasped her hands behind her back and tapped her toe on the ground in front of her before looking up at Natsu. Wendy pointed at the fire mage's shoulder. "Like Natsu-nii's. B-But blue."

"KYAA!" screamed Mira, her eyes flashing brightly. "That was so adorable!"

Wendy, startled by the scream, darted behind Natsu and grabbed his scarf in her hands. "Natsu-nii," she whispered.

"Juvia thinks that was truly darling!" added Juvia. "It seems she thinks of Natsu-san as a big brother!"

Suddenly, Gajeel pushed his way through the crowd and approached Natsu and Wendy. The iron dragon-slayer quickly glanced at Natsu before leaning in front of Wendy. He sniffed, confusion marring his features before breaking out into a grin. "Gihi. Looks like we got ourselves a baby sister, eh Salamander?"

"A…what?" questioned Levy.

Gajeel stood back up. "This little squirt's a dragon-slayer. Name's Gajeel Redfox."

Wendy looked at him cautiously; this Gajeel person seemed scary, but he smelled like a dragon; he smelled safe. "Another dragon-slayer?"

"Yep!"

"What…What do you eat?" she asked curiously. "Natsu-nii eats fire."

Gajeel smirked. "I eat iron," he stated proudly. "That's definitely stronger—and better—than fire."

"Hey!" shouted Natsu.

"But…can't fire potentially melt iron?" she asked innocently. "Wouldn't that make fire stronger than iron?"

Natsu burst out laughing. "She got you there!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, what do you eat, pipsqueak?"

Wendy looked up at Gajeel. "Air. I'm a Sky Dragon-Slayer."

The iron dragon-slayer began smirking again. "I'd can it if I were you, Salamander. Last I checked a little wind could put out a fire. Gihi."

Soon, Natsu and Gajeel launched into a fight, Wendy watching with a small smile on her face. She'd gained two big brothers she could rely on—even if they were a little strange—and a place to call home. Things couldn't get any better than this.

* * *

 **Author's Note – Isn't Wendy just adorable? Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Drive***


	9. Drive

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Gajeel shares something he shouldn't.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Drive (Rated T)**

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Natsu asked for what was probably the tenth time.

"Gihi. Of course. Bunny-girl won't mind," said Gajeel, clutching his newfound treasure to his chest.

The fire dragon-slayer sighed. "She's gonna kill us. We'll never escape her clutches if she finds out."

"She's not gonna find out. She's out shopping with Levy."

It was a stroke of dumb luck that Gajeel had been able to find the rough draft of Lucy's short story. If he was right—and he always was—Lucy have given Levy the draft to read. He'd grinned sadistically when he'd found it on Levy's desk. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

He was going to read the story to the entire guild. And no one—not even Natsu—was going to stop him.

"All right, everyone," Gajeel shouted to the entire guild so all eyes were on him. "Who wants to hear the first draft of a story one of our members has written?"

Everyone perked up with interest, so Gajeel sat down on the bar counter and began to read.

* * *

 _ **The Story**_

 _Natsu Dragneel was thinking about Wendy Marvell again. Wendy was a violent animal with vast spots and brown fingers._

 _Natsu walked over to the window and reflected on his dull surroundings. He had always loved picturesque Fairy Tail with its vain, valid volcanoes. It was a place that encourages his tendency to feel anxious._

 _Then he saw something in the distance, or rather someone. It was the violent figure of Wendy Marvell._

 _Natsu gulped. He glanced at his own reflection. He was a friendly, daring, cocoa drinker with sticky spots and spiky fingers. His friends saw him as a knowledgeable, kooky knight. Once, he had even revived a dying, baby bird._

 _But not even a friendly person who had once revived a dying, baby bird was prepared for what Wendy had in store today._

 _The wind blew like loving horses, making Natsu surprised. Natsu grabbed a spotty blade that had been strewn nearby; he massaged it with his fingers._

 _As Natsu stepped outside and Wendy came closer, he could see the joyous smile on her face._

" _I am here because I want equality," Wendy bellowed in a sympathetic tone. She slammed her fist against Natsu's chest with the force of 9,255 donkeys. "I frigging hate you, Natsu Dragneel."_

 _Natsu looked back, even more surprised, and still fingering the spotty blade. "Wendy, you must think I was born yesterday," he replied._

 _They looked at each other with ambivalent feelings, like two pongy, plain puppies swimming at a very snooty carol service, which had drum and bass music playing in the background and two charming uncles drinking to the beat._

 _Natsu regarded Wendy's vast spots and brown fingers. He held out his hand. "Let's not fight," he whispered gently._

" _Hmph," pondered Wendy._

" _Please?" begged Natsu with puppy-dog eyes._

 _Wendy looked calm, her body blushing like a moldy, mute map._

 _Then Wendy came inside for a nice mug of cocoa._

 _ **The End**_

* * *

Natsu paled when Gajeel finished the story. Lucy wrote this? It was so…awful.

A deafening silence came over the guild, only to be broken by Gajeel clutching the story as if his life depended on it.

"Shit," the iron dragon-slayer muttered as he turned a sickly green.

"What is it?" Natsu asked halfheartedly. What was he supposed to say to Lucy when she found out about this? He couldn't lie…could he?

"Lucy didn't write this," Gajeel stammered.

Natsu's head snapped in his direction. "Who wrote it then?" He was home free!

Gajeel swallowed hard. "Levy."

"What's going on?" inquired Lucy, who'd just entered the guild with Levy, bags from their obvious shopping in their arms.

Natsu patted Gajeel consolingly on the back. "It was nice knowing you," he said as he made his way over to Lucy. "We should go. Let me help you with that."

Lucy looked at Natsu dumbfounded when he grabbed her bags and started dragging her out of the guild. "What's going on?" she repeated.

"Gajeel read Levy's story to the whole guild," he replied, pulling Lucy even more forcefully when he realized the script mage heard her. "This isn't going to end well."

"GAAJEEL!" Levy roared as she launched herself at the iron dragon-slayer. "YOU IDIOT!"

Gajeel felt himself fly across the guild when Levy kicked him in the face. He really should have read the story first before sharing it with the guild. If he'd done that, he would have noticed her Levy's name scribbled on the bottom. He was screwed.

"COME BACK HERE! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!"

Lucy sighed as she walked beside Natsu and headed for her apartment. If _that_ didn't drive Levy to improve her writing, she didn't know what would. At the sounds coming from the guild, perhaps Levy could start with the inscription on Gajeel's tombstone.

* * *

 **Author's Note – This theme stumped me. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Breathe Again***


	10. Breathe Again

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Dragon-slayers really have a way with words.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating M.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Breathe Again (Rated M)**

Everyone was bored. Currently there was a storm raging outside the guild, which prevented anyone from going home. And that included Sting and Rogue from Sabertooth, who'd stopped by to visit their fellow dragon-slayers.

Mira, tired of all the dragged out sighs, decided to spice things up a bit. "Let's play a game!"

That piqued everyone's interest, especially Erza's. "What game?" the requip mage asked.

Mira tapped her chin in thought. "How about _Truth or Dare_?"

Excitement rippled throughout the guild.

Those who wanted to participate gathered in a circle, while the rest hung out at the bar and drank.

"Who goes first?" asked Lucy.

"I will," offered Mira, "since it was my idea. Now, who to pick? Hm. Gray. Truth or Dare."

"Dare," Gray answered immediately.

Mira grinned. "I dare you to…get on the table and do a striptease."

The ice mage felt his eye twitch. "Fine," he said as he pulled himself onto the table. In two seconds, however, he was already naked.

"She said to do a striptease, not strip, perverted stripper," said Natsu.

"Hey, if all you're gonna do is complain, why don't you come up here and do it," replied Gray after he came back down from the table.

"No way! I'm not a perverted stripper like you!"

"Can we just continue with the game, please?" begged Levy.

"Okay, Gray. It's your turn to pick someone," said Mira, hoping Natsu and Gray would stop their squabbling.

"Fine." Gray looked around the group, his eyes settling on Sting. "Sting. Truth or Dare."

Sting thought for a moment before answering. "Truth."

The ice mage smirked. "Who here would you want to sleep with?"

"Who would I want to sleep with?" Sting echoed before grinning. "Easy. Natsu."

Everyone held their breath. Natsu?

"Why would you want to sleep with Natsu?" inquired Rogue. "He's so rough in bed."

Lucy's jaw dropped. "Y-You've slept with Natsu?!" At Rogue's nod, the celestial mage paled.

"Sure, Natsu's feisty in bed, but I wouldn't call him rough," replied Sting, answering Rogue's question.

Gray was having a hard time breathing. Not only had the flamebrain slept with Rogue, but Sting, too?! What was the world coming to?

"I have to agree with Sting on this one. Salamander's feisty, and he's hot as hell," said Gajeel, giving his two cents.

"Not to mention flexible," added Rogue.

Sting laughed. "Yeah. Those times are always fun."

Levy choked. "G-Gajeel!"

"What?"

"You slept with Natsu, too?"

"Yeah. What of it?"

No one could believe what they were hearing. Natsu had slept with Rogue, Sting, and Gajeel, and they were blowing it off like it was nothing?!

"Natsu!" Lucy gasped, turning her horrified expression to the fire dragon-slayer. "You slept with them? All three of them?"

"Yeah. We do it all the time, especially after we take missions together," he replied.

"Man, our Natsu really gets around," said Cana. "I wouldn't mind in on one of those nights."

"Cana!" screeched Lucy.

"I-I can't believe this," said Gray. "Natsu?"

"What?"

"Y-You really had s-sex with them?" the ice mage finally managed to ask.

The dragon-slayers all turned to look at Gray. "Sex?" they said.

Natsu punched Gray in the face with a flaming fist. "What the hell, Gray? I've never had sex with them! I knew you were a perverted bastard!"

"What the hell made you think we had sex with Salamander?" demanded Gajeel. He looked ready to pound someone.

"B-But you said you slept with him," said Levy.

"Yeah, as in _going to sleep_ ," said Sting.

"Why did you think we meant we had sex with him?" asked Rogue.

Mira blinked a few times. "Sleeping with someone is an expression for having sex with someone. I think we just had a bit of a misunderstanding."

Lucy exhaled slowly. She could finally breathe again, but she had to make sure. "So Natsu has never _had sex_ with Sting, Rogue, or Gajeel," she said.

All dragon-slayers confirmed her statement.

"Oh, thank goodness," said Lucy, placing a hand over her heart.

"That's too bad," said Cana. "I kinda liked the idea of these guys going at it in bed. Imagine how hot that would be. Man, that image is gonna keep me going for awhile. Hey! Who do you think would be hottest in bed together? Natsu and Gajeel, Natsu and Rogue, or Natsu and Sting?"

Erza slapped twenty jewel on the table. "Put me down for Natsu and Sting."

"Juvia…Juvia kind of wants to see Natsu-san and Gray-sama," she said dreamily.

"Ooh! I didn't think of that! I want to change my bet to Natsu and Gray," said Erza.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Natsu shrieked. They were placing bets on this now?! Natsu felt his spirit leaving his body. Could things get any worse?

"You know, this betting thing only works if Natsu actually has sex with one of them," pondered Mira. "How about we make hooking up Natsu a mission request? Surely someone would take it up!"

Obviously they could.

* * *

 **Author's Note – Please tell me you enjoyed this! Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Memory***


	11. Memory

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Wendy takes a trip down memory lane.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Memory (Rated T)**

"Hey, Natsu?" started Wendy as Team Natsu, Gajeel, and Levy sat around the campfire.

"Yeah?"

"Do you remember when we were little and Gajeel used to snuggle up to you at night?"

Gray's head immediately shot up. Was this teasing fodder he was about to receive? He grinned mischievously. "What's that? Natsu and Gajeel used to snuggle?"

Gajeel stared at Wendy, his mouth hanging open in surprise. How dare the little runt reveal that!

"What the _hell_ , Wendy?" retaliated Natsu. Gajeel silently thanked him for setting the record straight. "Last I remember, it was you, Sting, Rogue, and Gajeel who used to snuggle up to me at night."

That flaming bastard! "I did no such thing!" declared Gajeel.

"I think it's true," said Levy. "You're blushing, Gajeel."

"I am not!"

"You really are," commented Lucy.

"I am not!" he repeated. "The heat from the fire is making me red!"

"My fire is making you red?" responded Natsu. He'd been the one to start the campfire. "Since when?"

Gajeel needed to get out of this. "The moon looks really neat tonight, huh?"

"Oh, no," said Erza. "I want more of this snuggling story."

"Same here," replied Levy. "I never took you for the snuggling type."

Wendy giggled. "We would always snuggle up to our dragons at night before going to sleep. But sometimes they would gather and talk for hours at night, leaving up alone. We were so used to their body heat, that we instinctively sought it out. Natsu was the closest thing we had to that."

"Yeah. And I'd wake up in the morning being smothered to death by Gajeel," growled Natsu. "He's really kinda clingy."

Gajeel's jaw dropped again. His badassery had just gone down the drain.

"Kinda like a giant leech," Natsu added after a moment's thought.

"Oi, Salamander! Take that back!"

"You wanna fight?! Bring it on!"

Wendy just smiled. It really was great reminiscing the past.

* * *

 **Author's Note – Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Insanity***


	12. Insanity

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Natsu has a plan to defeat Acnologia.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Insanity (Rated T)**

"I've got it!" Natsu shouted, slamming his hands on the table loudly as he stood up in the guild.

Everyone turned to stare at him, unsure as to what he was talking about.

"I can't believe I never thought of this before!" the dragon-slayer continued enthusiastically. "I'm absolutely brilliant."

Gray threw a cup at him when the fire mage started laughing maniacally. "Hey, are you gonna let us know what you're going on about or continue acting like more of an idiot than usual?"

"I'm gonna pound you in the face, popsicle pants!"

"Bring it on, ash breath!"

"Silence!" shouted Erza before the two could start a guild brawl. "Natsu, what _brilliant_ idea did you have?" Even the skepticism in her voice was evident.

Natsu's face lit up. "I know how to defeat Acnologia! It's such a great plan!"

The guild fell silent. A plan to defeat Acnologia? And Natsu came up with it?

Master Makarov cleared his throat. He loved all of his children equally, so he thought it wise to let Natsu say his piece, then bash him in the head for his idiocy. "And that plan would be?"

"It's simple! We lure Acnologia onto some transportation that isn't moving, Freed does his rune thingy to trap him there, and then we get that transportation moving! He'll get motion sickness and it's all over!"

The guild stared at him in awe. That was a brilliant plan! Makarov couldn't believe such a simple solution lay before them.

"Are you insane?!" shouted Lucy, rounding on Natsu. "First of all, how are you going to lure Acnologia onto transportation? He isn't an idiot! Plus, if he's in his dragon form, is that really going to affect him? His weight alone would destroy any kind of transportation we put out there.

"Secondly, how long do you expect Freed's runes to hold up? His magic doesn't last forever, you know? No one's does! And thirdly, how long do you think you can keep any kind of transportation moving? Is Acnologia just going to ride transportation for all eternity? What's your solution for when the transportation stops, huh?"

By this time, Lucy was heaving. Seriously, did no one in this guild think things through?

"It was just an idea," Natsu said quietly. "I figured since he was a dragon-slayer, too, he'd get motion sickness and would be easy to defeat."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. The great dragon of the apocalypse, Acnologia, done in by motion sickness. Like that would ever happen."

* * *

 **Author's Note – Be honest. Who thinks it will? Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Misfortune***


	13. Misfortune

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: The five dragon-slayers encounter a little misfortune.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Misfortune (Rated T)**

"What the hell is this thing?" asked Natsu, staring at the old book precariously.

"Rogue and I found it on our last job," answered Sting. He and Rogue, along with Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy, sat in the Fairy Tail guild staring at an ancient tome. "I think it's about dragons."

"It looks really old," said Levy as she tried to peer between them. "I'd say a few hundred years, at least. I don't even _recognize_ this language."

"Really?" replied Natsu. "I can read it." He opened the book and flipped through some of the pages.

"Same here," replied Gajeel. "Stop there."

Natsu stopped flipping through the book, pausing when the iron dragon-slayer told him to. "What?"

"This says something about truth," mumbled Rogue. "And something about the Dragon Ceremony."

"Dragon Ceremony? You mean the Dragon Ceremony we went through?" inquired Wendy.

Rogue nodded, frowning as he took the book into his hands and began reading. "It's a spell to restore lost memories from the Dragon Ceremony."

"You mean if we do this spell, we'll remember everything from before the ceremony?" asked Sting.

"I believe so," said Rogue.

"Well, then let's do it!" said Natsu. "Maybe I forgot some magic Igneel taught me! It'd be cool if I remembered some things like that!"

"Are we in agreement then?" asked Rogue. When the other four nodded, the shadow dragon-slayer turned his attention back to the book. "Here it goes."

* * *

 _To restore what once was lost,_

 _Reverting back will be the cost._

 _Once truth fulfilled has been done,_

 _Coming back will be as one._

* * *

"Whoever wrote this really sucked at rhyming," commented Sting.

"Wait, what's happening?" started Gajeel. "The book is glowing."

"Uh, oh," said Natsu.

"Everybody down!" yelled Sting when the light began enveloping the entire guild.

* * *

Lucy groaned when she felt a heavy weight on her chest. Opening her eyes, she noticed Erza had landed on top of her. "Erza, get off."

"Hm? What happened?" responded the requip mage.

"I have no idea."

"Guys?" said Levy, panic seeping into her voice. "I think we have a problem!"

The members of the guild got up, dusting themselves off before turning their attention to what Levy was pointing at. They reeled back in shock.

There, standing in the center of the guild, were Natsu, Gajeel, Wendy, Sting, and Rogue. But they weren't their normal selves. They were…

"Children?!" shouted Master Makarov. "How on earth did they get turned into children?!"

"Th-They read a spell from the book," stammered Levy. "They thought it would help them get their memories back from before the Dragon Ceremony."

"So what do we do?" asked Gray, staring at his now chibi-rival. He looked to be no more than six, same as Gajeel. The other three looked a little younger.

"From what I gathered from the spell, I think we just need to let it run its course," said Levy.

Natsu felt himself becoming overwhelmed by too many senses. Even though it was loud and there were too many new smells, he still had to protect them. But where were the dragons?

The little fire mage took a few steps forward and looked up to stare at Master Makarov. "Where are they?"

"Where are…who?" responded Makarov. He wasn't sure how much Natsu remembered, if he remembered the guild at all.

"The dragons," replied Natsu.

"The dragons? Um, they are…that's to say..."

"They are at a meeting," cut in Mira as she smiled down at Natsu.

"A meeting," he repeated as if mulling over the word. "For how long?"

"I'd say about a month," answered Mira. _We have no idea how long you'll be like this, and we can't have you asking for Igneel every minute of the day._ She remembered exactly how Natsu had been once he'd arrived at the guild.

"A month?" Worry shone in Natsu's eyes. "They've never been gone a month before." A few days, maybe. But never this long. "And they left us with you?"

Mira smiled again. "Yes. We're a guild called Fairy Tail. Everyone here uses magic."

"Natsu-nii," called Sting hesitantly. He was holding Rogue and Wendy's hands. "What's going on?"

Mira had to prevent herself from squealing at that.

Natsu put an arm out to silence the other dragon-slayers, to which they listened. Surprisingly, there were no protests, even from Gajeel. The little fire mage was still being cautious. "If the dragons really put us in your care, what are their names?"

Makarov was surprised by Natsu's distrust, but commended him for his investigatory stance.

"Their names are Weisslogia, Skiadrum, Grandeeney, Metalicana, and Igneel," answered Makarov.

Natsu narrowed his eyes before nodding. "I'll trust you…for now. But if any harm comes to my siblings, I won't be held responsible for what happens to you."

Was…Natsu threatening him? Makarov had never expected that from the fire mage, especially since he was so young and…serious. He'd never seen Natsu so serious before. "No harm will come to you or your siblings."

"I don't matter," said Natsu calmly. "They do. They're the future."

Makarov frowned. "Everyone matters."

Natsu shook his head. "I don't. Can…Can they get something to eat? They're hungry."

"Sure," said Mira sweetly.

She never thought she'd have to coax Natsu and the other slayers to a table. Once they were seated, Mira busied herself cooking a comforting meal that would soothe the little dragon-slayers. When she was finished, she asked Lisanna to help her serve them.

"There we are. Eat up!" encouraged Mira.

At first, Natsu was confused. Why was he being given a meal? Perhaps the dragons didn't relay the rules set for him. Glancing up, he began to speak when he noticed four pairs of small eyes staring at him.

Natsu quickly sniffed the meals. Not sensing anything out of the ordinary, he nodded his approval. It was safe. Gajeel, Sting, Wendy, and Rogue eagerly began devouring their meals. Natsu, however, did not.

"Aren't you going to eat?" asked Lucy. She'd never seen Natsu not eat before.

Natsu shook his head. "I'm not supposed to when the dragons are gone."

Not supposed to eat? "Why?" asked Gray, looking perturbed.

"It's a rule," he replied.

Gajeel set down his fork. "They're gonna be gone a month. You can't wait that long." Natsu still looked hesitant, so Gajeel whispered, "It's not like we've never snuck food to you before. No one's gonna tell."

"But Grandeeney—"

"Natsu-nii," piped up Wendy. "Please eat with us."

Natsu looked afraid. "You won't tell?" The four dragon-slayers shook their heads. "Okay."

Lucy watched painfully as Natsu took tiny, tentative bites of his food. He jumped whenever there was a sound, like he was afraid of being caught. Just what had happened to him in the past?

"You know, I just realized we haven't introduced ourselves," said Mira. "I'm Mira and this is my sister Lisanna. We're transformation mages."

"And I'm Lucy. I'm a celestial spirit mage. I summon celestial spirits."

"Like Anna?" asked Natsu. "You do kind of look like her."

"Excuse me?"

"Anna Heartifilia. You look like her," continued Natsu. "She made me this," he said, indicating the scarf around his neck.

Lucy really didn't know what to say to that. Anna was her ancestor. How could Natsu possibly know her?

"Um, I'm Erza," the scarlet-haired mage cut in when Lucy just stared at Natsu in shock. "I'm a requip mage, and I love strawberry cake." Erza turned to Gray expecting him to speak. When he didn't, she elbowed him in the stomach.

"Ouch! I-I'm Gray. And I'm an ice make mage. Nice to meet you all."

Gajeel looked at them with analytical eyes. "I'm Gajeel Redfox. I'm an iron dragon-slayer."

"I'm Sting Eucliffe! And I'm a white dragon-slayer! I really like eating white stuff!"

"I-I'm Rogue Cheney. I'm a-a shadow d-dragon-slayer."

"My name's Wendy Marvell. I'm a sky dragon-slayer."

"And I'm Natsu Dragneel. I'm a monster."

"Natsu-nii," proclaimed Sting. "That's not true!"

"It is," Natsu countered simply. "Especially if _they_ say so."

"But—"

"I think it's time you went to bed. It feels late," said Natsu, ending the discussion. "Is there a place for them to sleep?"

"Yes," said Makarov, taking note that Natsu kept using the word 'them' and not 'us.' "Follow me."

The dragon-slayers were led to the infirmary, where a large bed looked as if it was waiting for them. All save Natsu crawled into the bed. The fire mage checked on each slayer, wishing them goodnight before settling himself in a chair near the bed, where he just sat and watched them.

"Are you going to sit there all night? There's enough room for you," said Makarov.

"I'm not supposed to sleep when the dragons are away," replied Natsu.

This again? "I'm not sure I understand what you mean," he said, sitting in a chair next to Natsu. "Would care to explain it to me?"

"It's one of the rules. When the dragons are away, I'm not supposed to eat or sleep."

"But why?"

"It keeps me weak. They're afraid I'll kill my siblings otherwise. Well, Igneel is…different. But the other four go against his words."

Makarov frowned. "Why do they think you would kill your siblings?"

"Because I'm a monster."

"You've said that once before. Why do you say you are a monster?"

"That's what the dragons call me. Not Igneel, but the others. Especially Grandeeney. They call me a monster, an abomination. But I would never do anything to hurt my siblings. I love them."

Makarov still didn't understand _why_ Natsu had been called those things, and he didn't want to push him, so he changed the subject. "Well, what kind of magic do you use then? I use a little bit of everything."

"My magic?" questioned Natsu. "Which one?"

That came as a surprise to Makarov. "Which are you currently using?"

"Fire dragon-slaying magic," said Natsu, turning his attention back to his sleeping siblings. "But I don't like fire."

"You don't like fire?" Makarov echoed. "How come?"

"It destroys everything."

* * *

Natsu weighed heavily on Makarov's mind. He hadn't been able to get another word out of the young mage after that. And he hadn't been able to get Natsu to sleep, either; he was vigilant on the matter.

Now it was the next morning, and Natsu was refusing to eat breakfast.

"You need to eat," scolded Mira. "You can't possibly think you'll last a whole month without food."

"I broke a rule yesterday," said Natsu. "I can't break another rule."

"Is it just me or is it freaky that he's so obsessed with rules?" asked Gray quietly.

"Aye. It's freaky. Kinda like Freed," replied Happy. He wasn't used to seeing his best friend act so…weird. What was wrong with him? He hadn't even seen him laugh. Or smile!

Suddenly, an idea struck Happy. "Hey! How about we go outside and play together?"

"That's a great idea!" said Lucy. "We can show them our magic and have some good old-fashioned fun!"

"A great plan," announced Erza.

* * *

One minute Natsu was staring down at a bowl of oatmeal he'd left untouched, and the next he was outside. A blue cat with wings hovered in front of his face.

"I'm Happy!" he said with a grin.

"I can see that," said Natsu.

"No, silly! That's my name!"

"It's kind of a weird name."

 _You're the one who gave it to me_ , Happy thought. He grabbed one of Natsu's hands. "Let's play!"

"Play?"

"Yeah! We can play tag, or hide-and-seek, or kick a ball around."

Natsu let Happy list all of the things they could… _play_. It was a funny word. What did it mean? Maybe he should ask. "Happy?"

"Yes, Natsu? Did you decide on a game?"

"What does _play_ mean?"

Happy's jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock. "H-How can you not know what it means? What do you do all day?"

"Igneel makes me train my magic, and then I do my studies, like reading and writing."

"You do your…studies?! AAH! Lucy! Help!"

"What are you crying about now, cat?" responded Lucy as she walked over to the two of them.

"Natsu says he doesn't know what playing is. He says all he does is train and do his studies!"

Lucy threw a confused look at Natsu. That didn't sound like him at all. How come the Natsu she knew and the one standing before her were so different? She suddenly held out her hand to him.

Natsu cautiously took it. He soon found himself being led to what Lucy called a swing. Lucy then picked him up and set him down on the seat of this so-called swing.

"Hold the ropes with your hands," Lucy instructed as she prayed that Natsu didn't have motion sickness yet. "I'm going to push you."

"What? Whoa!" yelled Natsu when he felt himself moving forward. He felt himself swing back only for Lucy to push him forward again.

This was…fun. Especially when he went higher and higher. It was like flying with Igneel. A smile erupted on his face.

But a scream soon interrupted his fun. Wendy.

Natsu jumped off the swing and landed neatly on the ground, racing over to the now sobbing Wendy.

"What is it?" Natsu asked, inspecting her for injuries.

"There's a dead bird," said Gajeel.

"It flew into the tree and just…died," added Sting.

A dead bird. "It's okay, Wendy," said Natsu as he walked over to the still creature. "Poor thing."

"Don't pick it up!" shouted Lucy. "Gray, do something!"

"What the heck do you want me to do?"

Natsu cradled the bird in his hands. "Life is precious, isn't it?" He turned his head at the gentle voice.

"Who're you?"

"My name is Mavis," she said with a smile as she crouched down next to him. She turned her attention to the bird. "Life, as well as death, must be appreciated in all forms. So how about we give this little one a proper send off, hm?" She'd been watching the whole event take place in the guild, but she was a bit surprised Natsu could see her. He didn't even have his guild mark.

"A proper send off?" he questioned. Mavis nodded. "Okay."

What Mavis had expected, however, was giving the bird a funeral. She had not expected the bird to suddenly come back to life and fly away from Natsu's hands.

"Was that a good enough proper send off?"

"I…uh…how did you do that?" asked Mavis. She'd never seen such magic before.

"Do what?"

"Bring the bird back to life!"

He looked at her strangely. "I just used my magic. My resurrection magic."

"But…to give life so carelessly—"

"It comes at a cost, so it's not careless," said Natsu as he stood.

It was then Mavis noticed the ground beneath them; the plant life around them was dead and black. Almost like…

"Zeref," she whispered.

Natsu turned when he heard the name. "You know Zeref?"

Mavis, in her shock, just nodded mutely. "You do, too?"

A look of concern crossed his features. "Is he around?"

"I…I have no idea," she answered honestly.

A million thoughts whirred in Natsu's mind. The dragons were away at a meeting, this Mavis person knew Zeref. Did that mean Zeref was here? Was it…time? But he wasn't ready. He wanted to spend more time with his siblings!

Mavis gasped when Natsu suddenly fell over in a dead faint.

* * *

"Maybe you scared him to death. You are a ghost," said Gray.

"I did not scare him to death," said Mavis for what had to be the thousandth time. "He brought a bird back to life and we got onto the subject of Zeref. Natsu _knows_ him at this age."

"When's Natsu-nii going to wake up?" asked Sting.

"This always happens when he does that," said Gajeel.

"Does what?" asked Makarov.

"When he brings something back to life," answered Rogue.

"Yeah. Except he did it willingly this time," said Gajeel.

"Are you saying he's done this before?"

Gajeel nodded. "Sometimes the dragons bring people to Natsu so that he can use that magic. But it's usually between people. Natsu doesn't like it."

"You mean, Natsu takes the life of one person and gives it to another?" asked Mavis. She was surprised when the young girl started answering her. She could see her, too?

"Yes," said Wendy sadly. "It causes Natsu so much pain. He hates both of his magics. But I think his fire one is pretty."

"Why do the dragons make him do that?" Mavis inquired.

"They say it's training for something more," said Sting. "Don't know what that means, though."

"Mmn. I-Igneel?" Natsu called out from the infirmary bed.

Makarov rushed to his side. "It's not Igneel. I'm Master Makarov of Fairy Tail. Remember me?"

Natsu blearily opened his eyes. Where was he again? That's right. Fairy Tail. But why was he in bed? "What happened?"

"I think you fainted after using your magic," answered Makarov.

"My magic? What did I do?"

"You brought a bird back to life," said Mavis. "And you mentioned Zeref. How do you know him?"

"First Master, should you really be asking that now?" questioned Makarov.

Natsu closed his eyes and sighed. "I know him. He's the one who gave me to Igneel."

That was news to everybody in the guild.

"Why would Zeref give you to Igneel?" asked Mavis.

"Zeref said the resurrection magic wasn't enough. He needed me stronger, so he gave me to Igneel to learn dragon-slaying magic."

"Who'd have thought a fainting spell would loosen his tongue," murmured Gray.

Mavis ignored him and pressed on. "Needed you stronger for what?"

"To kill him. To kill Zeref. That was the plan. I was supposed to use my magic to take all the life out of Zeref and release it into the world. Using that much power would kill me, too, but they're not sure. So the dragons want to turn on him. Maybe that's why the dragons are meeting. They're deciding on whether or not to kill me themselves."

"Why would they kill you?" Mavis wondered aloud. Natsu was just a child. Who would want to kill a child?

"Because I'm a monster, an abomination. I don't matter. My siblings do because they need to defeat Acnologia in the future. My only purpose is being a tool to kill Zeref, but the dragons want to kill me instead. They say it should be done all the time, but Igneel always denies them."

Natsu closed his eyes as he gradually drifted back to sleep. "I don't want to go yet, though," he mumbled. "I want to stay with my…family."

Wendy whined and crawled onto the bed. The remaining three dragon-slayers followed suit.

The guild members watched as Gajeel lifted Natsu gently in his arms and pulled him against his chest as he leaned back in the bed. Sting and Rogue cuddled on either side of Natsu, while Wendy snuggled against the fire mage's chest. They looked as if they were trying to comfort him, protect him, with what little they could offer.

It tore at everyone's heart.

* * *

A loud crash thundered throughout the guild. It had come from the infirmary. Lucy, Erza, and Gray were the first ones on the scene.

There, in the middle of the destroyed bed, were the five dragon-slayers back to normal. The bed couldn't support all their weight and had collapsed.

"You lot get off me!" shouted Gajeel. "You're freakin' heavy!"

"Like you're one to talk, metal head!" snapped Sting. "You're the one holding onto everybody!"

"Ow!"

"I'm so sorry, Rogue!" Wendy apologized. Her attempt at getting up from Natsu's chest had caused her to elbow Rogue in the eye.

"What the hell happened?" Natsu groaned as he sat up…on Gajeel's chest. "And why are we all sleeping together? We haven't done that since we…were…kids…" His voice trailed off when his mind started to clear. He remembered. He remembered the past.

All of them did.

Gajeel sat up and ruffled Natsu's hair fondly. "Don't worry about it. We're livin' in the here and now, yeah?"

Natsu offered him a small smile. "Yeah."

"Good. Now get the hell off me!"

The five dragon-slayers crawled out of the destroyed bed, surveying the damage done to the piece of furniture.

"Gramps is gonna be so pissed," grumbled the fire mage.

"Natsu," announced Makarov, making said person flinch. "Don't worry about the bed. How are you feeling? You gave us quite the scare yesterday."

Natsu turned to see the concerned faces of his friends. "I'm fine," he answered quietly as he remembered the events of the past two days. "You don't need to look at me like that."

Gray scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, well. We were worried about you. Are you sure you're fine? You know, since you guys remember and stuff?"

"You don't have to treat me like I'm going to break," ground out Natsu. "The past is what it is. The past."

"Yes," started Lucy, "but doesn't remembering it change things?"

"It doesn't," said Natsu, "because I remember the truth now."

"And what is that truth?" asked Makarov.

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

 _Igneel stared down at Natsu, the boy he had come to raise, the boy he had come to love. And now he was being asked to kill him? For what?_

 _He couldn't do this._

" _You must kill him, Igneel," said Grandeeney. "This abomination will be the end of everything."_

 _Igneel clenched his jaw. There had to be another way._

" _Stop!" screamed four young voices._

 _Gajeel, Sting, Rogue, and Wendy threw themselves in front of Natsu._

" _What is the meaning of this?! Get out of the way!" growled Metalicana._

" _We won't let you kill Natsu-nii!" said Sting._

" _Oh?" responded Weisslogia. "What is your reasoning?"_

" _H-He's our b-big brother," stammered Rogue._

" _He is not your sibling," spat Skiadrum._

" _He is nothing more than a foul abomination to this world. A monster," said Grandeeney. "You dare go against us?"_

" _If you want to kill Natsu, you'll have to kill us, too!" shouted Wendy. "We will not let anything happen to Natsu-nii!"_

 _Grandeeney stamped her foot. "Fine. We will leave it up to the humans now. If that is your wish. I do hope that you do not regret this decision you have made. We will commence with the Dragon Ceremony as planned. All five of us."_

 _ **End Flashback**_

* * *

"His name is Natsu Dragneel," started Gajeel, ruffling Natsu's hair again.

"He is not a monster," said Sting, putting an arm around Natsu's waist.

"He is not an abomination," added Rogue, putting his arm around Natsu's other side.

"He's our brother, our family, and we would never let anything happen to him," said Wendy, hugging him from the front.

* * *

 **Author's Note – That was a lot longer than a drabble. I'm wondering if I should turn it into a longer fic. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Smile***


	14. Smile

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Everyone tries to make Rogue smile.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Smile (Rated T)**

"Has anyone noticed that Rogue doesn't really smile?" started Natsu.

"He smiles," Sting immediately defended.

"Oh, yeah? When?" responded Gajeel.

"Hey! He smiled after the Grand Magic Games when I fought him!" the fire mage proclaimed suddenly. "Boy was he having a power trip."

"That was Future Rogue," said Wendy.

"Still counts!"

"Ooh! I remember now!" said Sting. "He smiled when I said we'd always be partners…I think…"

"When was that?" asked Gajeel.

"After the Grand…Magic Games during the Dragon War thing…"

"That was still a year ago," said Wendy.

"Wait, so no one's seen Rogue smile in a year?" questioned Natsu.

"Seems that way," mumbled Sting.

"All right then!" exclaimed Natsu. "Mission: Get Rogue to smile is a go!"

* * *

"Sting," began Rogue. "What on earth are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you."

"I'm making faces."

Rogue paused. "Why? Are you having a seizure? Should I call a doctor?"

"No!" exclaimed Sting. "I'm making them on purpose!"

Rogue paused again. "Why?"

"Gah! This is hopeless!"

* * *

"Wendy," started Rogue.

"Yes?"

"Why are you smiling at me?"

Wendy suddenly looked down at the table, growing shy. "Do you have a problem with me smiling at you?"

"I do, actually," said Rogue. "It's unnerving. It seems unnatural."

Tears welled up in Wendy's eyes. "Natsu-nii! Rogue's being mean to me again!"

* * *

"Natsu," sighed Rogue.

"Hold on a sec. I'm not ready," said the fire mage as he sorted out his note cards. "Okay. I'm ready. Are you?"

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be ready for."

"You sound like you're ready. Okay," said Natsu as he cleared his throat. "My friend bet me a hundred jewel I couldn't build a car out of spaghetti. You should have seen his face when I drove pasta. Heh! You get it?"

"Natsu, even if that did make sense, we get motion sickness. There's no way that would really happen."

"Okay. Wait! I got another one!" said Natsu as he shuffled through his note cards. "How does a train eat?"

Rogue sighed. "I don't know."

"It goes chew chew."

"…"

"How about this one? Did you hear about the constipated mathematician?"

"No," said Rogue. He did not like where this was going.

"He worked his problem out with a pencil," said Natsu with a grin. "A No. 2 pencil."

"Flamebrain, give it a rest already. That was disgusting!" shouted Gray from the other said of the guild.

"Who asked you, pervy stripper?!"

"What did you call me?!"

"I called you a pervy stripper!"

Rogue sighed again when Natsu launched across the table and tackled Gray to the ground. This day was never going to end.

* * *

"Gihi."

Rogue sighed. Not this again. It was becoming exhausting. Raising his head from his book, he looked up. "G-Gajeel?!"

"What's up, Rogue?"

A light blush dusted Rogue's cheeks. Gajeel was dressed like…he was dressed like…Frosch!

Gajeel was lucky to run into the little cat. He'd heard about the matching outfit Frosch was supposed to give Rogue—but had forgotten about—so Gajeel decided that what better way to put a smile on Rogue's face then to look like the shadow dragon-slayer's most favorite thing in the world.

What Gajeel didn't expect, however, was for Rogue to launch himself into Gajeel's arms, hug him, smile, and…was he purring?

"What do you know?" started Natsu. "Metal head did it. It's creepy as hell, but metal head did it."

"You sound impressed," commented Sting.

"Looks like I finally beat the Salamander at something," Gajeel said with a grin.

"I can still beat you in a fight! Bring it on!"

"Don't…ruin…this…moment!" ground out Rogue, shadowy tendrils surrounding him, ready to banish Natsu and anyone else to parts unknown.

"Don't worry, Rogue," said Wendy, grabbing Natsu and Sting by the wrists. "They're taking me for ice cream. Enjoy your time with Gajeel-nii!"

"I will!" said Rogue, snuggling up to Gajeel once more.

"When did we make plans to get ice cream?" asked Sting.

"I don't know," said Natsu, "but I'm all fired up!"

Gajeel frowned. He wanted some ice cream. "Rogue—"

"No."

"But—"

"If you even think of moving from this spot to get ice cream, I will tell Levy you're madly in love with her."

Gajeel frowned. "Being a big brother sucks," he grumbled. _Ice cream…_

Rogue's smile softened. He knew Gajeel didn't mean that, otherwise he wouldn't be trying to cheer him up right now.

"Thank you, Gajeel-nii."

"Welcome," Gajeel continued to grumble, a blush staining his cheeks.

* * *

 **Author's Note – Some themes just stump me. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Silence***


	15. Silence

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Natsu challenges Laxus…again.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Silence (Rated T)**

"Laxus! Fight me!" Natsu shouted immediately as soon as he entered the guild.

The lightning mage resisted the urge to pound Natsu into the ground right then and there. Could he not take a hint?

Natsu waved a flaming fist in his face.

Apparently, he couldn't.

"Fine," said Laxus, surprising the fire mage.

"Really? You'll fight me?"

"In a way, yes," started the lightning mage as he smirked. "I have a challenge in mind."

"Well, then I'm all fired up! What's the challenge?" Natsu was up for anything.

"Tomorrow, as soon as we come to the guild, we can't talk or make any noise. The first person to do so loses. It'll be a silence contest."

A silence contest? Hell, he could do that. It'd be easy. "Okay! But why tomorrow?"

Laxus just continued smirking. "I need time to prepare."

Natsu wasn't sure what he meant by that, but he was still fired up! He'd beat Laxus for sure!

* * *

The minute Natsu stepped into the guild the following day, he searched for Laxus. The lightning mage was sitting at his usual table looking quite pleased with himself.

"Hey, Natsu," greeted Lucy. "Do you want to go on a mission with me? My rent's almost due."

Happy spoke for the fire mage. "He can't," snickered the Exceed. "He challenged Laxus to a silence contest. The first one to say something or make a noise loses."

Lucy grinned. Her rent could wait. This was going to be good. "That's okay, Natsu. Good luck!"

Natsu grinned and headed over to Laxus, who just smirked at him. Why was he smirking at him?

"Salamander!" Natsu spun on his heels at the sound of Gajeel's angry voice. "What the hell is this?"

The fire mage soon saw a paper being shoved into his face. He grabbed it and began reading.

* * *

 _Dear Metal Head,_

 _I don't know how to tell you this, but…I am madly in love with…Levy. I know you have the hots for her and stuff, but you haven't made a move. So I've decided to. We're having a date this Saturday._

 _Best Wishes,_

 _Natsu_

* * *

The fire mage gaped at the note. He didn't write this! It had to be Laxus! He was about to open his mouth to say so, but remembered the competition. _Damn you, Laxus!_ he cursed in his mind.

"Like hell I'm going to lose to you!" ground out Gajeel. "Shrimp!"

Levy raised her head from her book. "What is it, Gajeel?"

"There is no way in hell I'm lettin' you date the Salamander!"

The script mage frowned. What in the world was he talking about? "Why would I date Natsu?"

Gajeel faltered. "So you're not going out with him on Saturday?"

"No. Why would you think that?"

Natsu thanked the heavens that this had been cleared up. He still had a shot at beating Laxus.

The lightning mage, however, just continued smirking.

Natsu stomped his foot. Why was he still smirking?!

"Natsu-san!"

The fire mage turned, spotting Juvia running to him with a suspicious looking letter in her hands.

"Does…Natsu-san really feel this way?" she began, tears pooling in her eyes.

How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? He didn't even know what she was talking about!

"Flamebrain! What the hell is going on?!"

 _Gray, too? What the serious fuck?!_ Natsu thought as he pulled on his hair.

"Since when are you in love with me?" demanded Gray.

Juvia turned to face Gray. "In love with Gray-sama? But Natsu-san is in love with Juvia."

Both water and ice mage turned to face him. Natsu just gaped. _Damn you, Laxus._ The fire mage snatched both the notes from their hands and began reading.

* * *

 _Dear Juvia,_

 _I know you love Gray with all of your heart, but I do, too. I guess that makes us love rivals or whatever. I will not lose to you. I have known Gray longer than you and we have a very serious connection. I do hope we stay friends. No matter whom Gray chooses._

 _Best Wishes,_

 _Natsu_

* * *

Well, he was certainly fucked. And not in the good way.

* * *

 _Dear Gray,_

 _I know we fight all the time. You're the best rival anyone could have. But I care for you more than a rival, more than a best friend. We've known each other a long time, and we've always looked out for each other. What I'm trying to say is that…I love you, Gray. And I want us to be more than friends._

 _Love,_

 _Natsu_

* * *

The fire mage was gripping the letter so tightly that it nearly ripped in half. He was going to kill Laxus!

"Natsu-san!" Juvia started, gaining the dragon-slayer's attention. "Juvia does not see you as a love rival."

Natsu sighed in relief. She saw through all this, thank goodness.

"Juvia sees Natsu-san as an equal in love. Juvia and Natsu-san shall share Gray-sama!" she declared.

Gray flinched. "What the hell?!"

"Juvia thinks Natsu-san can have Gray-sama on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Juvia will have him on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Juvia and Natsu-san will share Gray-sama on Sundays. What does Natsu-san think?"

Natsu _-san_ just continued gaping at Juvia like a fish. He needed…a pen! He needed a pen!

Running over to Lucy, he snatched her pen and raced back over to Juvia and Gray, scribbling furiously on the back of one of the letters. When he was finished, he showed it to them.

 _I didn't write these letters! Laxus did! We're having a silence contest and he's trying to get me to talk!_

"Oh," said Gray as he sighed in relief. Thank goodness. He was starting to freak out a little bit when he imagined Juvia planning out a threesome.

Juvia, however, looked a little disappointed. "Natsu-san is not in love with Gray-sama?"

Natsu shook his head.

The water mage began crying. Ever since Gray and Lyon holding each other on the water slide, all she wanted was to see her Gray-sama doing some boy on boy action. Was that too much to ask?

"You know what?" started Gray. "How about we get Laxus back?"

Natsu's eyes lit up as he nodded eagerly.

"Juvia will help," she said, her anger flaring. How dare Laxus-san get her hopes up!

* * *

"Laxus?"

"Laxus!"

The lightning mage jerked when he spotted Mira and Freed angrily heading in his direction. _Shit!_ Maybe he took things with Natsu too far.

"What is the meaning of this?!" demanded Freed as he shoved a letter in his face.

Laxus took it hesitantly and began reading.

* * *

 _Dear Mira and Freed,_

 _I know the both of you have the hots for me. Seriously, who wouldn't? But I can't be with either of you. Honestly, I think the two of you should be together. You're perfect for each other. Sure, I occasionally have dirty dreams about the both of you, but the truth is I can't make myself commit. There's someone else. Someone who gets me like no one else. There's no doubt about it. I'm in love. I'm am truly, madly, and deeply in love…with myself._

 _Best Wishes,_

 _Laxus_

* * *

The lightning mage raised his head. Both Mira and Freed looked like they were going to turn into their demon forms any minute. Plus, they were pissed. He wouldn't stand a chance.

"I didn't write this!" he exclaimed, hoping to appease them. "Natsu did it! If you should blame anyone, blame him!"

"I win!" cackled Natsu, pointing at Laxus and laughing. "I finally beat Laxus!"

It was then that Laxus realized his mistake. _That little bastard!_

"We know you didn't write that, Laxus," said Mira sweetly.

"We were just playing along for Natsu's sake," added Freed, as calm and stoic as ever. "Even I know you're not _that_ full of yourself."

Laxus looked miffed. "Thanks for that," he mumbled as he crossed his arms. "Can't believe I lost to that lousy fire mage."

"Hey, Flamebrain," said Gray. "You realize your mistake, right?"

"My mistake?" repeated Natsu. What was Gray talking about?

"If you'd actually made a bet, you would've won. You could've actually made Laxus your slave for a day or something."

Laxus froze. He'd dodged a fucking bullet.

Natsu's eyes widened. "Son on a bitch! Laxus! Challenge me to something else!"

* * *

 **Author's Note – Don't judge me. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Illusion***


	16. Illusion

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Sting gets drunk.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

Author's Note #4 – ***Illusion: a false idea or belief**

* * *

 **Illusion (Rated T)**

Natsu entered the guild with Gajeel and Rogue where they were suddenly accosted by a panicking Wendy.

"I couldn't stop him! I'm so sorry!" Wendy cried.

"Stop who from what?" inquired Natsu as he tried to calm the young girl down.

"Well," interceded Gray as he snickered, "your dragon pal over there got in a drinking contest with Cana."

Natsu's eyes widened dramatically. It was then he noticed that Sting was up on the bar, dancing around. To no music. Cana was laughing and encouraging him to continue.

"You let him drink?!" Natsu exclaimed, looking ready to bolt.

"Shit," said Gajeel. If the iron dragon-slayer knew anything, it was that you never gave a true dragon-slayer alcohol. Well, it least it was just Sting. And not Sting, Rogue, and Natsu. That would a whole other hell.

Rogue sighed. "He knows he's not supposed to drink. What brought this on?"

Gray continued snickering. "It started with Cana challenging people to drinking contests. Then she set her sights on Sting. He refused at first, but then she called him a wuss, and here we are."

Natsu started creeping backwards. He'd dealt with a drunk Sting before. It was not pleasant. He was just as bad as Lucy.

Suddenly, Sting stopped dancing when he noticed the small crowd near the guild doors. He gasped and grinned. "Natsu-sama!"

Gray flinched. "Juvia! No—wait. Natsu-sama?" He turned to look at the fire mage, who was now hiding behind Gajeel.

The guild members watched as Sting jumped down from the counter and ran over to Natsu. He shoved Gajeel out of the way and hugged Natsu.

"Natsu-sama, I missed you," he said as he rubbed his face against Natsu's cheek.

The fire mage tried desperately to get out of Sting's vice-like grip. "Sting, let go."

Sting moaned. "I love it when you say my name. Say it again."

Natsu placed his hands on the white dragon-slayer's chest and pushed him away. "Seriously, stop it."

To his surprise, Sting did. But then the white dragon-slayer's eyes started tearing up. "Are you mad at me, Natsu-sama?"

Natsu took a step back. Why was it always crying? "I'm not mad," he insisted, hoping Sting's tears would stop before he started sobbing. "You're just making me a bit uncomfortable."

"Oh," said Sting as he began smiling stupidly at him. "I know how to fix that."

Before Natsu could respond, Sting grabbed him by the hand and shoved him into a chair next to a table laden with food.

Everyone in the guild watched in amusement, confusion, and embarrassment when Sting straddled Natsu on the chair and began trying to feed him.

"Say ah," started Sting, bringing a forkful of chicken to Natsu's mouth.

"I'm not doing th-mmph." Natsu was cut off by Sting shoving the food into his mouth. Why did drunk people always want to feed him? "Sting, I don't—mmph."

"Is it good, Natsu-sama?" Sting asked hopefully.

Natsu—crying internally—nodded. He cast his gaze around the guild hoping someone would help him. The fire mage was not pleased that the girls were staring at them with blushing cheeks.

Once he made eye contact with Gajeel and Rogue, who were watching the exchange in amusement, they approached the two dragon-slayers.

"I think the Salamander has had enough," said Gajeel as he tried pulling Sting off of Natsu.

Sting responded by wrapping his arms around the fire mage. "You will never take me from my Natsu-sama!"

Juvia watched the exchange with interest. "Juvia has been too passive," she said, turning her gaze to Gray. "Juvia must be more like Sting-san and take what she wants."

Gray decided now was his time to make a run for it.

"Would ya let go of him already? He looks about ready to suffocate," said Gajeel.

"Sting, you're embarrassing yourself," added Rogue. _And me._

"I don't want to leave Natsu-sama," insisted Sting.

"We know that," said Rogue. "But I think…Natsu-sama wants you to take a nap. Right, Natsu-sama?"

Sting stuck his tongue out at Rogue. "No one's allowed to cal him that except me!"

"I'm gonna kick this brat's a—"

"Sting," interrupted Mira, cutting off Gajeel. Maybe she could help them out. "Natsu cares for you, right?"

Sting nodded.

"And don't you think he wants what's best for you?" she continued.

Sting nodded again.

"So don't you think it might be a good idea to do as Natsu wishes and let go so that you can take a nap?"

Sting shook his head. "No."

"No?" Mira echoed. She was so sure her plan would work. "Why not?"

"Because if I leave, Natsu-sama will go away. I don't want him to go away. I love Natsu-sama," Sting answered simply.

Natsu blushed while several of the girls squealed, commenting on how cute it was that Sting confessed to Natsu.

 _Thump!_

"Oh, dear," said Mira. "It seems this was too much stimulation for Erza. She's passed out."

"S-Sting," stammered Natsu.

"Yes, Natsu-sama?"

"I…I won't leave," he said. "I just want you to…sleep this off. I'll stay with you."

Several of the girls squealed again, this time about how cute the two dragon-slayers were being.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

Sting hugged the fire mage once more before getting off his lap. He grabbed Natsu by the hands and walked out of the guild.

"We should probably follow them just in case," said Rogue.

"There goes my evening," growled Gajeel.

* * *

Sting woke to a pounding headache. Placing a hand to his aching head, he opened his eyes. Where was he? It took him a few seconds before he realized he was in Natsu's house.

In Natsu's bed.

He looked down at himself. Where were his clothes?

He looked next to him. Where were Natsu's clothes?!

"Holy shit!" he yelped as he fell out of the bed, the sheets tangling around him.

The sounds caused Natsu to stir. "Are you yourself now?" he asked, stretching as he sat up.

"What the hell happened yesterday?" he shrieked. In a manly sort of way, of course.

"You don't remember?" Natsu responded with a frown.

Sting shook his head as he continued staring at Natsu wide-eyed. He was almost afraid to ask.

"You decided to take Cana up on her offer and had a drinking contest," Natsu began. "You were totally drunk. First, you were dancing on the bar counter. Then you hugged and nuzzled me. After that, you straddled my lap on a chair and fed me, and then you said you were afraid I'd leave and told me you loved me."

"I-I did all that?"

"That's not all," continued the fire mage. "I took you here so you could sleep it off. But you had other things in mind."

Sting swallowed hard. What had he done? He hadn't done what he thought he'd done…right?

Natsu got out of the bed and knelt close to Sting's face. "You walked up close to me, kinda like this. Getting even closer and closer…"

"Y-Yes?"

"You threw up on the both of us," finished Natsu as he pulled away. "You threw up all over Igneel's scarf, too. Do you have any idea how disgusting that was? Not to mention it was a pain in the ass trying to clean you up! Who tries to hug another person when they're covered in vomit?!"

Sting blushed in embarrassment. His thoughts had been correct. He had thrown up. It always happened when he drank. He still wasn't sure why he was so clingy, though.

"I'm sorry," said Sting. "I know I upset you when I drink."

Natsu sighed. "It's not that. It's the fact that you always think I'm going to leave you. I'm not going anywhere, Sting. I love you."

Sting grinned. "I love you, too, Natsu-nii."

Suddenly, Natsu shot up and gripped his hair in angst. "I just realized something!"

"What?"

"The whole guild heard you say that you loved me! But I think they misunderstood!" That explained the nosebleeds and Erza passing out.

"Misunderstood it how?" Sting asked confusedly. Then it dawned on him. "Wait! Like _that_?! What the hell are we going to do?"

"Tell them you're like a brother, not a lover?" Natsu offered with a weak smile.

"I have a feeling they won't believe that."

"You're probably right. We might need a distraction."

Sting frowned in thought. "We…could always get Gajeel drunk. No one's got anything on him when he's wasted."

Natsu paused. "Let's do it."

* * *

 **Author's Note – My brain baby has finally left the building. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Blood***


	17. Blood

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Natsu and Sting move in together. Sting x Natsu

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

Author's Note #4 – Yes, this is a Sting x Natsu drabble. I'm hooked on them being a couple at the moment.

* * *

 **Blood (Rated T)**

"I can't believe we're really doing this," whispered Natsu as he looked up at Sting with a vibrant smile on his face.

"I think it's about time we moved in together," commented Sting softly, wrapping an arm around the fire mage's shoulders. He stared at their house which was nestled in the woods; it rested equally between Fairy Tail and Sabertooth. Though the surrounding forest looked ominous and somewhat oppressing, it was home. And it was going to be _their_ home from now on. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Natsu stated excitedly, hugging Happy to his chest. "And I'm glad you let me bring Happy along."

"It's no problem," Sting remarked with a grin. "Besides, Lector will be here, too. Not often since he likes hanging out with Frosch."

Natsu laughed at that. "We're gonna have a blast here, right Happy?"

"Aye!"

"Let's get you settled in, okay?"

Natsu smiled again, letting Sting lead him into his new home. He couldn't wait for their new life to begin.

* * *

It was late evening by the time Natsu had finished placing his small amount of possessions in Sting's room. No, it was _their_ room now. He'd have to remember that.

The door to the bedroom was closed and Happy was playing around; he figured he should let Happy get used to the place one room at a time. While Happy explored, Sting took a shower in the adjacent bathroom. That's why Natsu was quite surprised to hear footsteps outside the bedroom door.

Natsu shooed Happy away from the door so he could peek out into the hall. No one was there. That was strange. Closing the door, he went back into the room.

However, Natsu's head shot up when he heard a knock on the door. Slowly approaching the bedroom door once more, he opened it and peered out into the hall. But, like last time, there was no one there. He shut the door and just stared at it. This was so strange. No one should have been here. Lector was at Sabertooth. And it was already seven.

Shrugging it off as his imagination, he went back toward the bed and promptly jumped out of his skin when he heard a bang. His head shooting in the direction of the bathroom, Natsu figured Sting had just dropped something.

But then he caught some movement out of the corner of his eye. When he turned to look, he found Happy sitting down on the floor and staring at the door. His tail swished every so often. And it honestly looked like he was listening to something.

Natsu approached the door and crouched so he was at Happy's level. And that's when he heard it.

Scratching.

And then something touched his shoulder.

"Ah!" Natsu screamed, jumping up and ready to fight his attacker with his fists; a blast of fire zoomed around the room. But it was only Sting. "You scared me!"

"I didn't mean to. I thought you would have heard me. What are you doing?" asked Sting, rubbing his hair dry with a towel.

"I heard a scratching sound on the door," replied the fire mage.

"It's probably just Happy."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Happy's right here and he doesn't do that sort of thing. All he does is fly, complain, and eat fish."

"Hey!"

Frowning, Sting looked down at happy and found him staring back at the door after his declaration. Kneeling next to Happy, he began listening, and he heard a scratching sound. Opening the bedroom door, he walked out of the room and put his ear to the wall.

He heard nothing.

Coming back into the room, he shut the door, and the scratching began again.

"Maybe we have mice," stated Sting absently. He then approached the wall and banged on it. The scratching immediately stopped. Perhaps he'd scared off whatever had been making the noise. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"But…never mind," said Natsu, brushing the whole thing off. Perhaps he was just hearing the sounds of the house. It _was_ a new environment after all. He just had to get used to it. That was it.

* * *

Sting smiled when he got up that morning. He enjoyed being able to see Natsu sleeping next to him. And knowing that the fire mage probably wouldn't be up for a while, Sting rose from the bed, got dressed, and headed out of the room as quietly as he could with the idea of making breakfast for his lover running through his mind.

Heading downstairs and into the newly renovated kitchen he'd constructed before Natsu's arrival, Sting stifled a groan when he noticed one of the chairs had been left out. "Natsu," he grumbled. Didn't he know how to push in a chair?

Sliding the chair into its proper place, Sting looked up and his stern expression faltered. All of the cabinet doors were open. It looked as if someone had just decided to open everything. Even the door to the oven was open.

Turning on his heel, Sting marched back down the hall into the room he'd reserved for guests. Happy was staying in there at the moment. "Why did you open the cabinets?"

Happy's eyes widened. He shook his head madly in protest of being accused of such a thing. "I didn't do it!"

Sting grumbled to himself. "All right. I apologize for snapping at you. Maybe a draft did it." He left Happy then and went back to the kitchen. Sting began shutting the cabinets and he closed the oven.

* * *

Later that night, Natsu lay curled up against Sting, his head resting on the white dragon-slayer's chest as he listened to his heartbeat.

"You didn't have to get that crazy with Happy," Natsu said, rubbing his hand on his lover's stomach.

"Yes, I did," Sting replied sharply. "If he's not going to respect our home, he should go back to Faiy Tail."

"You have no proof he did that in the kitchen."

"Maybe not, but he is a mischievous little thing. We'll need to keep an eye on him."

"Whatever," Natsu stated softly, making himself a little more comfortable. But he had to turn his head when he noticed the bathroom light flickering. Both he and Sting watched the light flicker until it promptly went out.

"Stupid lights," grumbled Sting as he slid off the bed. Natsu chuckled and followed him into the bathroom, where Natsu flicked the light switch off and on. The light bulb seemed to have gone out.

Climbing onto the counter, Sting grabbed a towel and unscrewed the light bulb. He stared at it for a moment. It didn't look like it had burned out. Maybe it had only been loose. Screwing the light bulb back in, he told Natsu to flip the switch.

Light flooded the bathroom. There was no flickering. However, as soon as Sting reached the bathroom door, the light flickered and went out.

"I'll change it in the morning," said Sting, flipping the light switch off. "Let's just go to bed."

"Okay," replied Natsu. "I'm glad we've finally moved in together. I really appreciate the renovations you made to the kitchen, too. I'm gonna have fun in there."

"Heh," was the only reply he received.

Once they returned to the bed and were under the covers, they cuddled up next to each other, fully prepared to go to sleep.

 _Click._

Light flooded the bedroom. Sitting up in the bed, they realized it was coming from the bathroom.

"I thought you turned it off," said Natsu.

"I did," insisted Sting as he got out of the bed again. He headed for the bathroom and discovered that the light switch had been turned on. But he'd turned it off!

Flipping the light switch again, he went back to bed. And a few minutes later, he and Natsu heard the light turning on again.

"What in the world is going on?" Sting snapped, throwing the blankets off and storming out of the bed. He went up to the light switch and turned it off once more. "Let's see it turns on after this." Natsu hovered in the doorway, watching as Sting got up onto the counter again and reached for the light bulb.

"Shit!" the white dragon-slayer hissed, making Natsu jump.

"Are you okay, Sting?" the fire mage asked in concern. "Sting?"

"I'm fine. I just burned my hand on the bulb. Hand me that towel, will you?"

Natsu did as he was asked and began watching his lover deal with the light bulb again. Sting removed the bulb and tossed it into the trash. Then he stepped off the counter and inspected the light switch, making sure it was turned off. When things were to his satisfaction, he placed his arm around Natsu and led him back to the bed.

"Let's get some sleep," whispered Sting, letting Natsu curl up against him. And as Sting drifted off, Natsu lay wide awake, wondering just what was going on with his new home.

* * *

Natsu grinned. He couldn't wait to dig into his lunch. He set his scarf on the table since it was a bit stuffy in the room, and set down his plate and soda. He then reached for his drink but frowned when his hand didn't make contact with it. Glancing around the kitchen, he spotted his soda on the floor. How had it gotten there?

He got up from his chair and retrieved the can and set it back down next to his plate. Sitting back down, he kept his eyes glued to his lunch and reached for his scarf since he began feeling uneasy.

He couldn't find it.

Leaping out of his chair, he stared at the spot it should have been, but it just wasn't there.

"Natsu, why is your scarf on the floor?"

Natsu's head shot up in the direction of the bedroom door. Happy stood in the doorway, the fire mage's scarf on the floor in front of him. Swallowing hard, he approached happy. And when he was close enough to grab his scarf, he snatched it up.

Then he just stood there, staring at Happy, who was staring at him. It was really kind of weird. But eventually, Happy shrugged at his friend's odd behavior and left, so Natsu turned around to get back to his lunch.

He froze.

It took all the courage he had to walk up to where he'd placed his meal. With a shaking hand, he poked his soda can; it fell to the floor, opened and empty. And the food that had been on his plate was gone.

The scarf fell from his hands as he stood there shaking. What was he supposed to do now? Should he tell Sting? Would he even believe him?

Not knowing what to do, he sank down onto the floor and closed his eyes, rocking himself back and forth. He didn't want to admit he was scared, but he was. He _really_ was!

* * *

Sting pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes. His guild mates were becoming harder to handle every day. Since when had they become so reckless?

Leaning back in his chair, his gaze shifted as his eyes then panned his house. It was nice being at home now since Natsu was living with him. That meant he could spend more time with his lover.

Smiling at that, his gaze once again shifted, but his head shot up when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. His head snapping to the right, he stared at the corner of the far side of the room. He could have sworn something was over there.

Maybe it was just his imagination. Or maybe it was just Happy.

A few minutes later, however, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye again. Believing that Natsu was trying to play tricks on him, his head snapped up again, fully prepared to start scolding.

But he froze and felt his blood run cold.

Standing in the corner of the room, stood a shadowy figure, boding evil and threatening. It didn't move, but Sting could _feel_ the malice emanating from it. He stood and stared it down.

Sting finally blinked. And when he opened his eyes again, the figure was gone. Had it only been his imagination? He really hoped so.

* * *

When Sting got to their bedroom that night, he found Natsu staring at Happy. And neither of them was moving.

"What are you doing?" Sting asked.

Without turning, Natsu answered, "He won't go onto that part of the floor." Natsu indicated the space in front of the bed.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean," replied the white dragon-slayer honestly.

"Watch," said Natsu as he picked up Happy. He set his friend down on the floor in front of their bed. But as soon as Happy's feet touched the floor, he jumped back onto the bed and began freaking out.

"Don't put me down there!" Happy hissed. He then crouched on the bed and stared at the floor as if he were watching something they couldn't see.

Frowning, Sting knelt down and stared at the floor, too.

"I don't know why he won't go there," stated Natsu as he shrugged his shoulders. "He won't tell me."

"When did he start acting like this?" inquired Sting.

"Uh, maybe about ten minutes ago?" Natsu replied unsurely.

And then suddenly, Happy was perfectly fine. He hopped off the bed and started wandering around the room as if he'd never acted like he had a few minutes ago.

"He's been acting weird lately," commented Natsu absently.

Sting couldn't help but agree. Something was…off. And he really wished he knew what it was.

 _Bang!_

Sting and Natsu jumped at the sound of their bedroom door slamming shut.

"The wind probably just blew it closed or something," said Sting, shrugging off an eerie feeling.

"It wasn't," stated Natsu.

Sting pondered things for a moment before making a decision. "I'm going to look around."

The white dragon-slayer practically had to pry Natsu's fingers off of him, but once he had, he decided to investigate the hallway.

Heading into the guest room, he flipped on the light switch and found that the light wouldn't turn on. That was strange, to say the least. But there was a logical explanation for this, right? There had to be.

However, he didn't want to remain in the room any longer for some reason, so he headed back for the door. Leaving the room, he quickly made his way down the hall until he got to their bedroom. Shutting the door, he stared at it before a voice brought him out of his stupor.

"Sting, are you okay?" asked Natsu, looking concerned. Happy was curled up in his lap.

"I'm not sure. Something's not right." Sting really hated to admit that, but what had gone on was just too strange. "Let's just get some sleep."

Natsu ushered Happy off his lap and into the center of the bed. Pulling down the blankets, Sting got in. All seemed well, until the fire mage shrieked and jumped out of the bed.

"What is it?" Sting gasped after Happy clawed his way across his stomach.

"I-I felt something," said Natsu, inching away from the side of the bed. "It felt like someone sat next to me."

"Are you sure it wasn't—?"

"Yes, I'm sure it wasn't Happy!" cried the fire mage. "Can we sleep with the light on?" Natsu asked softly.

"Fine," replied Sting as he turned on the bedside lamp. "Come on. Get back in the bed. Let's _try_ to get some sleep."

They both settled back down; however, sleep was the furthest thing from either of their minds.

* * *

Natsu was the first one up for a change. He hadn't slept a wink last night, but he'd tried to do his best. And now he was down in the kitchen preparing breakfast. As he set about making some eggs, he felt someone nudge his arm. Turning around, he fully expected to see Sting.

But no one was there.

His heart racing a mile a minute, he looked around the vacant kitchen, waiting to either be touched or to see dishes flying about the room.

Nothing.

Shrugging it off, he turned back around to begin cooking the eggs. A few seconds later, he felt a hand run through his hair. Screaming, he spun around, knocking the pan of eggs onto the floor. Pressing himself up against the counter, he shook like a leaf as his eyes panned the kitchen again.

No one was there, so who was touching him?

"Natsu, what are you doing?" called Sting, entering the kitchen.

"Something touched me. _Twice_!"

Sting sighed. "It was probably just your imagination," commented the white dragon-slayer.

"I did _not_ imagine it!" Natsu snapped.

" _Sting._ "

The two of them froze after hearing someone whisper the white dragon-slayer's name.

"You heard that, right?" Natsu deadpanned.

Sting nodded.

"I told you I wasn't imagining things."

* * *

Sting and Natsu settled into their living room. With everything that had gone on so far, it seemed the safest option. But with the white dragon-slayer now pacing back and forth, Natsu became more and more unnerved.

"I don't understand what's going on," Sting said, finally stopping. "I don't…there _has_ to be an explanation for this."

"There is," began Natsu. "The house is haunted."

"If it was haunted, don't you think something would have happened _prior_ to you moving in?"

"Wait," started the fire mage, "this stuff didn't start happening _until_ I moved in? Did I cause this?" Sting had moved into the house a few months before him so that he could get everything in order. Nothing had happened then, so why now?

"This house is _not_ haunted. And it has _nothing_ to do with you moving in," Sting snapped, breathing heavily, his white breath—.

Wait. White breath?

Sting took a deep breath and exhaled again, the same white mist appearing in front of his mouth. Why was it suddenly so cold?

"Sting?"

And then, as suddenly as the cold spot had appeared, it was gone and the room's temperature was back to normal.

"You still think this place isn't haunted?" inquired Natsu, looking uneasy.

Sting still refused to say that the place was haunted. There just _had_ to be a logical explanation for everything. But was he willing to jeopardize the well-being of Natsu to prove it?

* * *

It had finally reached late evening without any more unexplained incidents. Natsu was in their bedroom doing whatever it was to keep himself occupied. He was probably keeping himself entertained with Happy.

And here Sting was, sitting in a chair in the living room, trying to figure out what to do. Sighing, he leaned back in the chair and stared up at the ceiling. What was he supposed to do? He'd wracked his brain, trying to find an explanation or reason for why strange things were happening in their home, but he kept coming up with nothing.

Was the house really haunted? Or was it just a figment of their imaginations? Were they suffering from some sort of mass hysteria?

Groaning, he stood and stretched, making his way out of the living room and toward their bedroom. He paused, however, when something caught his attention.

Turning around, he looked about himself, trying to detect where it was coming from. He saw nothing, heard nothing.

" _Sting._ "

The white dragon-slayer inhaled sharply. He'd heard his name again, but this time it sounded harsher than before, like the one saying it was angry.

" _Sting!_ " the voice hissed again. The voice was becoming more pungent now.

Bolting for the bedroom, he burst inside, frightening Natsu. Slamming the door shut, Sting stared at the door, trying to ignore the fear that seemed to linger around him.

"Sting?" Natsu called out unsurely.

Suddenly, the door burst open of its own accord, startling the white dragon-slayer. He fell back against the bed and watched in horror as the house seemed to come to life.

The pictures on the walls began flying off, banging as they flew across the room. Books started falling off the shelves while the lamp kept turning itself on and off. It was like the house was seething in anger.

"Ah!" Natsu cried.

Sting turned his gaze sharply in the fire mage's direction, but he was too late to react.

"Help!" Natsu screamed as his body was viciously dragged by an invisible form across the floor and out of the bedroom. He continued to scream, even as the bedroom door shut after him.

"Natsu!" Sting shouted, racing toward the door. He grabbed the knob and yanked it. But he failed in opening it. It was as if someone had nailed the door shut. And hearing Natsu's screams and pleads for help didn't make things any better.

Sting pulled harder on the door. When there was enough space for him to place his hand between the door and the frame, he made to grab it, but the door snapped shut, nearly slicing his fingers off.

"Natsu!" This couldn't be happening! Sting ran his hands through his hair, panic coming to the forefront of his mind. What was going on? What was happening to Natsu?

Growing angry, he kicked the door. But that only served to anger whatever apparition was at work. For as soon as he had assaulted the house, his body flew across the room and hit the bed.

Sting breathed heavily, pain stinging his chest. As he pushed up his shirt, he gasped when he saw what looked to be scratches on his skin.

Jumping to his feet, he threw caution to the wind. "STOP!" he roared.

Everything stopped. It was quiet. Deathly quiet.

And then the door creaked open, revealing an eerie calm in the hallway. But there was something else that made it all the more worse.

Natsu was quiet as well. And he was nowhere to be seen.

He cautiously made his way out into the hallway, taking it one step at a time as he followed the scorched trail left behind by Natsu. Why was it so quiet?

"Natsu?" Sting called out anxiously. Where was he?

As he made his way down the stairs, the familiar scent of Natsu struck the white dragon-slayer. Maybe if he followed it, he'd find Natsu.

Sting headed for the living room. "Natsu?"

There, against the wall, was Natsu. And he was clawing at his neck like someone was keeping him in place. When Sting realized the fire mage's face turning red, he understood that Natsu was being choked.

"Natsu!" he gasped, running over to him. But he slid to a halt when something appeared next to the fire mage. An apparition?

Whatever it was, it had its back to him. And it seemed to be examining Natsu.

"You stay away from him!" Sting yelled, grabbing a book and throwing it at the entity. It flew right through it.

The manifestation spun around at that, and Sting stumbled backward when he noticed the human-shaped being.

Suddenly, the house began vibrating, rattling as if they were in an earthquake. Natsu plummeted to the floor, gasping for breath. Sting raced over to him, picking him up bridal-style as he hurried back over to the far side of the room.

The apparition approached them as the wall behind it began to form words in a sickly red color.

 _Get Out!_

"We're getting out of here!" Sting said, clutching Natsu in his arms as he ran for the opening of his house.

As soon as the two of them made it outside—including Happy, who'd followed them from behind—the front door slammed shut.

Reaching the very edge of the forest, Sting finally set Natsu down on his feet, inspecting every inch of him. "Are you all right?"

The fire mage nodded, still trying to get his breathing under control.

Once they'd settled down somewhat, the two of them looked back toward the house. And that's when Natsu started laughing. Sting looked at him in confusion.

"I'm sorry! I can't hold it together anymore," cackled Natsu. "Come on out."

"Come on out?" Sting repeated. What the hell was Natsu talking about?

"Have you learned your lesson, Sting?"

The white dragon-slayer's head snapped in the direction of the voice. "Rogue?"

Said dragon-slayer crossed his arms and glared at Sting. "I hope you'll remember this the next time you try to pull a prank on me."

"Wait a sec," started Sting, "this whole haunting thing was you?" Rogue nodded. "And you were in on it?" he demanded, turning his attention to Natsu.

"Only at the very end," replied the fire mage, his laughter now under control. "After I got dragged out of the bedroom, Rogue's shadows kept you locked in so that he could tell me what he was trying to do. I played along in the end."

"What the hell is wrong with you, Rogue?!"

Rogue continued glaring. "You put fake blood on Frosch and made me think he was severely injured! Do you have any idea how terrified I was? This was my way of getting you back!"

"So everything was you?" Rogue nodded. "How come I didn't smell you?"

"I came across an herb that masks scents, even to the noses of dragon-slayers," replied the shadow dragon-slayer.

"And it getting cold in the house? We saw our breath," said Sting.

"I may have asked for Gray's help on the matter."

Sting and Rogue stared at each other before the white dragon-slayer finally broke the silence. "Truce?"

"I knew you'd see things my way."

* * *

 **Author's Note – I needed to get Sting x Natsu out of my system for a little bit. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Rainbow***


	18. Rainbow

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Natsu and Gajeel think they've discovered something about Wendy.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating K+.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Rainbow (Rated K+)**

"Why do we gotta do this again?" asked Gajeel as he wiped dust off of Wendy's bookshelf.

"Because we accidentally smashed Erza's cake. Now we have to do what she says," answered Natsu, sneezing when he got a bit too close to the dust on Wendy's desk. "Seriously, I thought girls were cleaner than this."

"Tell me about it," said the iron dragon-slayer after a moment. He made to wipe down another shelf, but ended up knocking some items onto the floor. "Great." Now he had to clean this up, too.

"Hey, what's that?" Before Gajeel could even respond, Natsu swooped down and picked up a piece of paper. "It's a rainbow."

"A what?" Gajeel peered over the fire dragon-slayer's shoulder to look at the illustration. "Did Wendy do this?"

Natsu shrugged. "I guess. She's actually pretty good at drawing. Look at how she blended the colors."

"What do you know about art?"

"I can know things!" Natsu defended.

"What're you two doing?"

Gajeel and Natsu turned to see that Wendy had returned.

"We found your rainbow drawing," said Natsu with a grin on his face. He rotated the illustration so that Wendy could see it. "I was saying to Gajeel how good you are at this kinda stuff."

"I didn't draw that," replied Wendy.

"Really?" Natsu looked skeptical. "Who did it then?"

"Laxus."

"LAXUS?!" Natsu and Gajeel cried simultaneously.

Wendy nodded. "The last time I had a cold, Laxus drew it for me to cheer me up."

A mischievous smirk crossed both male dragon-slayer's faces. They were going to hold this over Laxus for years to come.

Who knew Laxus had a soft spot for rainbows?

* * *

 **Author's Note – I thought it was funny! Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Gray***


	19. Gray

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Sequel to Seeking Solace. Gray confronts Natsu.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Gray (Rated T)**

Gajeel jerked awake. When had he fallen asleep? Rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, he turned his attention to Natsu. He still seemed to be sleeping peacefully in the bed. The iron dragon-slayer gave a small smile at that.

But that smile soon turned into a frown. What Gray had said had deeply hurt Natsu. Gajeel wasn't sure what that would do for their team or even their friendship. But as long as Gray did the right thing, it would all work out, wouldn't it?

"Mm." Natsu turned onto his back and stretched.

"Ya feelin' any better?" asked Gajeel almost immediately.

The fire mage made himself sit up in the bed. "My body feels kind of heavy. But I do feel a bit better. I'm not cold anymore, at least."

"That's good. I'll go get ya some food so you can take your medicine. Just relax while I go get it."

"Gajeel?"

"Yeah?" He paused at the door.

"Has…Has Gray come to see me?" Natsu asked quietly, a lost look on his face.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I felt asleep, so who knows if he did or not."

Natsu stared at the blankets and traced small patterns on them with his fingers. "Oh."

Gajeel grit his teeth. "Did ya wanna see him?"

The fire mage stopped his ministrations and looked up at Gajeel. He nodded curtly.

"I'll do it because it's you askin', but I gotta ask why. Why do ya even wanna see that bastard?" When Natsu gave no reply, he sighed. "Fine. I'll send him."

* * *

Gray jumped when a plate of food was slammed on the table in front of his. His eyes shot up to meet the intense glare coming from Gajeel.

"Take this to Salamander," said the iron dragon-slayer gruffly.

The ice mage looked at the food then back up at Gajeel. "What?"

"He wants to see ya. Hell if I know why," he ground out. "If I had it my way, I'd beat ya to a bloody pulp."

"He wants to see me?" Gray gulped. He wasn't sure if he was ready to face Natsu yet. He regretted every hurtful thing he'd said, but he didn't know how to say that to the fire mage.

"Ain't that what I said? Now take this before ya make him starve to death, too."

Gray hesitantly picked up the plate and walked toward the infirmary. He could feel Gajeel glaring daggers in his back, but tried to shake off the feeling.

When he reached Natsu's room, he knocked on the door.

"Come in," came the soft reply.

Gray pushed himself inside and shut the door behind him. He kept his gaze on the floor as he slowly walked toward the bed. Setting the plate on the side table, he just stood there and waited for Natsu to say something.

"You can sit," said Natsu gently.

Gray sat in the chair next to the bed, and for that he was grateful. He felt like his legs would've given out from his nervousness. But why was Natsu being so calm? Why wasn't he screaming at him or setting him on fire?

"You wanted to see me?" Gray asked, finally raising his head. He took in Natsu's pale complexion guiltily.

"Yeah," replied Natsu, reaching for the slice of bread on his plate. He placed it in his lap and began picking at it. "I'm sorry."

Gray frowned at Natsu's apology. What the hell was Natsu apologizing for? He had nothing to be sorry for. "What?"

"I'm sorry," repeated the fire mage. "I'm sorry for ruining the mission and for insulting you the whole way back. If I hadn't done that, none of the other stuff would've happened."

"Natsu," Gray started, "I can't accept your apology…because you don't have anything to apologize for. We both made a mess of that mission. I'm sorry I blamed you for that. And I'm sorry we insulted each other, too.

"But I crossed a line that shouldn't have been crossed. I hope you realize that I didn't mean what I said. I don't believe Igneel abandoned you, and you are not useless or worthless. I was angry and wanted to hurt you. You could have done the same, but you didn't.

"I'm really sorry, Natsu. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry that what I did made you end up like this. I'll do anything so that you'll forgive me. Even if that means…leaving your team. But I'll do that. For you. If that's what you want."

Natsu tared deeply into Gray's eyes, seeing the sincerity in them. "I don't want you to leave my team," he began slowly, "but what you said dug up a lot of stuff I thought I'd gotten over. I'm afraid of…"

"Afraid of what?" Gray asked softly, urging him to continue.

"I'm afraid of being abandoned. I always have been, especially after Igneel…disappeared. Everyone leaves eventually. My parents left me, Igneel left me, Lisanna left me for a time, Happy leaves me for Carla, and you…left me when we came back from our mission. It's a never-ending cycle, and it hurts every single time. You saying those things made me feel like it was true…again."

"I _never_ meant to make you feel that way," Gray said, grief lacing his voice.

"I think I know that now," replied Natsu.

Gray pulled the fire mage's hands away from the bread, holding them in his own. "I don't know what to do to fix this. Just tell me what to do to and I'll do it."

"You're already doing it, Gray." Natsu gave him a small smile. "You're here and that's enough. You didn't have to come."

The ice mage held his breath. "Does that mean you forgive me?" At Natsu's hesitant nod, Gray gave a sigh of relief.

"But if I act…distant around you for awhile it's because I'm being cautious. I know how you feel, but something will nag at me in the back of my mind that you'll do it again. Just be patient with me until I feel like my normal self around you."

Gray nodded. He knew hurting Natsu like that would create consequences. And earning back Natsu's trust was one of them. "I'll do everything I can to earn back your trust."

A sudden growl interrupted the strange silence, which made Gray chuckle.

"I guess I'm a little hungry," Natsu said in embarrassment as he pulled his hands away from Gray's.

The ice mage grabbed the plate and placed it in his friend's lap. "Eat up. You need to take your medicine after you eat, too. Then I'll let you get some sleep."

Natsu's head shot up from his food. "W-Will you stay?"

"With you?" The fire mage nodded. "For as long as you'll have me."

"Thanks, Gray."

"I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

 **Author's Note – I had to reconnect them! Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Jealousy***


	20. Jealousy

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Natsu finally meets Larcade, much to Sting's annoyance.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Jealousy (Rated T)**

Natsu stared blankly at the person standing in front of him. "What?"

"I'm your nephew, Larcade Dragneel," he sighed in agitation as he tried to cross his arms, but the magic seal stone cuffs prevented him from doing so. Being a prisoner of war sucked.

"My nephew," Natsu repeated slowly. He looked to Sting, hoping the other dragon-slayer could either confirm or deny what he was saying.

"I think he's telling the truth," said Sting, "even if he does smell exactly like you."

The fire mage turned his attention back to Larcade curiously, inspecting every inch of him. If what he was hearing were true, then that meant Zeref had to be his father. But how was that even possible?

"I hate you," Larcade said suddenly, his face contorting in rage.

That statement surprised Natsu. "Huh? Why? We don't even know each other. How can you hate me?"

Larcade began to shake, his anger bursting to the surface. "He loves you!" he snapped. "He doesn't love me, and I'm his son! I'm his son! So how can he love you and not me?!"

Natsu frowned. "What makes you think he doesn't love you?"

"A father is supposed to love you, not keep his distance. He's never shown me any sort of affection. I never hear him talk about me, especially not the way he talks about you. What kind of a father does that?"

"Considering your father is Zeref, one who loves you."

Natsu's reply startled both Larcade and Sting.

"I don't understand," said Larcade, confusion slipping into his eyes.

The fire mage averted his gaze. "Zeref is a complicated person. The more he loves something or someone, the more he feels he needs to keep his distance. I think Zeref does love you, but he doesn't want to show it because he's afraid of hurting you or worse. Did that never occur to you?"

Larcade dropped his gaze to the ground. Had he misinterpreted his father's actions this whole time? He did know of his father's curse, but had he been blinded by his voracity for his father's affections that the thought never crossed his mind?

If that were true, then he'd lived a life without love for naught. And in killing Natsu, which had been his personal mission, how would that have garnered his father's positive attention?

"I…" started Larcade. "I…"

"It's okay," said Natsu as he ruffled Larcade's hair. "Let's get these cuffs of you, huh?"

Larcade was stunned by his uncle's trust. "I wanted to kill you," he stated, trying to make Natsu understand that they were on different sides. "I hurt your comrades."

Natsu removed the cuffs despite Sting's protests. The fire mage grinned. "You _wanted_ to kill me? Does that mean you don't anymore?"

Larcade continued staring at Natsu, unable to form a coherent sentence. The fire mage dropped the cuffs on the ground and pressed his forehead to Larcade's. "You're family to me, even if you did a bad thing. What matters now is how you move forward."

Larcade felt his heart twinge at the word _family_. That's what he wanted. That's what he'd always wanted. So he couldn't help the sudden urge he felt to embrace his uncle, so he did just that.

Natsu smiled when he felt Larcade hug him desperately. He returned the embrace, which only made Larcade tighten his grip.

 _So this is affection, familial love. I could get used to this_ , Larcade thought as he sighed. He opened his eyes—not realizing he'd closed them—and spotted Sting staring at them, mouth agape and finger pointing. And angry look was also apparent on the white dragon-slayer's face.

Was Sting…jealous? Of him?! Well, that was interesting. And he did want to get back at Sting for defeating him. So Larcade did the only action he thought would be worthy of the moment.

Sting wanted to strange Larcade. He was grinning at him like a maniac and sticking his tongue out at him. That bastard! He _knew_ he shouldn't have introduced Larcade to Natsu.

"Larcade, stop making Sting jealous," announced Natsu as he broke the embrace. "Don't deny it, either. I can smell it."

"I'm not jealous!" argued Sting, his face reddening in embarrassment.

Natsu looked at him skeptically. "Larcade is a part of the family now, just as you are, Sting."

That comment swiped the smug look off Larcade's face. "Sting is family?"

"Yeah. He's part of my dragon family. Sting's like my younger brother."

"Oh," said Larcade. Suddenly, a mischievous thought entered his mind. "Does that make Sting my uncle, too?"

Sting sputtered and began yelling incoherently at Larcade.

Natsu scratched the back of his head and laughed. "If you want to, I guess."

Larcade grinned before hugging Natsu from the side. "Okay. But I still think I like Uncle Natsu better than Uncle Sting."

"Take that back, eyelash face!" snapped Sting.

"Who are you calling eyelash face, prissy pants?" retaliated Larcade. Both mages were now nose to nose yelling insults at each other.

Natsu watched the exchange in amusement and exasperation. "Now I know how Erza feels," he mumbled. When they started coming to blows, Natsu decided to intervene by bashing them both in the head. The two turned and looked at Natsu in astonishment. "No fighting!"

"We're not fighting," stammered Sting as he placed his arm around Larcade's shoulders. "Right, Larcade?"

"Right," he agreed, not liking the angry look in Natsu's eyes. He then placed his arm around Sting's shoulders.

"Good," said Natsu as he turned around. He then gripped his hair in angst. _Is that what Gray and I do when we make Erza angry?! We act so stupid! Wait! If they act like me and Gray, then the minute I turned around…_

Natsu spun around and found the other two mages sprawled on the ground pulling at each other's hair. Yep. Those two were like him and Gray. What had he done?

When they started using magic in their brawl, he began to freak. "WHERE'S ERZA WHEN I NEED HER?!"

* * *

 **Author's Note – I really feel like Larcade and Sting would do this! Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Vacation***


	21. Vacation

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Our dragon family decides it's time to take a vacation.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Vacation (Rated T)**

"Why are we dating idiots?" Lucy asked when she stared at Natsu's shit-eating grin.

"You're asking the wrong person," deadpanned Levy, resisting the urge to slam her head against the wall.

"Do…Do you think they'll be okay?" Yukino asked hesitantly, eyeing Sting worriedly.

"Of course not," cut in Rogue. "They're imbeciles."

"You shouldn't say things like that, Rogue," stated Wendy; however, she did eye her brothers with worry in her eyes.

"This is going to be bad," groaned Lucy, preparing herself for the worst.

A ding sounded, signaling it was time to begin.

"I still think we should make a run for it," said Levy.

* * *

"You're going down, Salamander!" shouted Gajeel.

"We'll see about that, metal-head!" replied Natsu eagerly.

"Not if I get you first!" added Sting.

 _Ding!_

What should have resulted in a fierce battle were not dragons vs. dragons, but dragons vs. machines.

Or rather dragons vs. bumper cars.

The minute the bumper cars started moving, all was lost. There were no more challenges, taunts, or threats from fierce warriors who'd look death in the face and survived. There was moaning, groaning, and vomiting from motion-sick dragon-slayers who looked like were on the verge of death.

* * *

Rogue sighed, knowing he'd been right all along. "Come, Wendy. Let's get some cotton candy."

"Okay!" she replied happily as she walked away with one of her brothers.

"You want to go with them?" asked Levy.

"Lushy~! H-Help meeee~!" Natsu groaned as his bumper car was hit once more.

"Sure," replied the blonde. There wasn't much she could do until the ride was over, anyway. "You coming, Yukino?"

Just the sight of Sting sick was making her feeling queasy. "Sure."

Lucy scoffed as they made their way to the food stand. "Coming to an amusement park. What the hell were they thinking?"

* * *

 **Author's Note – I thought seeing the dragon-slayers all excited about bumper cars would be funny! Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Mother Nature***


	22. Mother Nature

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Mother Nature gets bored, too. Some Gratsu

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Mother Nature (Rated T)**

Mother Nature was bored out of her freaking mind. You could only go so many thousands of years of ensuring plants grew and life continued before you slowly started losing your mind.

It was no wonder she caused so many storms and earthquakes lately.

Sighing, she wandered aimlessly through the streets of Magnolia, her wispy green gown flowing behind her. It wasn't like anyone could actually see her. She was more or less a spirit after all.

But that didn't mean she didn't get pissed when people walked through her.

Before she could retaliate against the man who'd done just that, a loud crash got her attention. Turning around, she was met with a wondrous sight.

There was an awful lot of commotion coming from a large building. It sounded…interesting. Maybe she should have a look.

"Fairy Tail?" she muttered under her breath. That was an odd name for a building. Stepping inside, she found herself engrossed in the drama inside.

* * *

"Gray, I swear that if you screw this up, I will kill you!" Lucy roared at the ice mage. That's what Mavis walked in on that afternoon when she went searching for everyone.

"Um, what's going on?" she asked.

"Well, Natsu somehow got it in his head to have this whole competition thing," started Erza. "Gray, Lucy, Gajeel, Erza, and I are on one side, while Natsu, Wendy, Rogue, Levy, and Juvia are on the other side. Right now, the score is tied."

"If Gray loses, our team will have to play a…penalty game," continued Erza.

"And what's the penalty game?" inquired Mavis, curious.

"Well, you see…the losers kind of have to get dressed up and do a little song and dance kind of thing," answered Sting.

"And who exactly is going to be helping the losers accomplish this?"

"You," said Erza bluntly.

"Sounds fun!" she exclaimed, giggling…evilly? Was that even possible?

"You know what? I'm switching sides!" Rogue cried, pushing Sting over to the other side, taking Sting's place.

Sting sighed and crossed his arms. Oh, well. At least he knew his new side was going to win. Natsu was the master of Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Gray frowned at Natsu, his eye twitching every now and then. It was up to him to win this. "Ready, flamebrain?"

"You bet!" replied the fire mage.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!" they said in unison.

"Ha! I won!" Natsu cried, jumping up and down. "Paper beats Rock!"

"No!" Gray exclaimed, horrified. "Best two out of three!"

"No way! A deal's a deal!" crowed the fire mage. "You're Mavis's now!"

"I refuse!" declared Gray.

"If any of your team refuses," Natsu said in a sing-song voice, wiggling a finger at Gray, "you'll be deprived of sex…for a whole month."

Gray paled. No _dragon luvins_ for a whole month? Like hell! He rounded on his teammates. "If any of you are thinking of refusing, I will kill you!"

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Gray, can you really not last a whole month?"

" _You_ …don't understand. I _need_ my dragon luvins. And if I don't get my dragon luvins for a whole fucking month, I will make all of your lives a living hell!" the ice mage roared.

Gray saying 'dragon luvins' would have been funny if he weren't so dead serious. The others gulped in response, giving into the conditions of the bet.

"Great!" exclaimed Natsu as he made his way over to Mavis. "They're all yours!"

* * *

Mavis paced the back room by herself, trying to figure out how to pull off this penalty game. How should she go about this?

"Would you like some help?"

"EEK!" Mavis shrieked, spinning around in fright. "Who're you?!"

"I'm Mother Nature," the woman announced as she leaned against the wall. "I was actually surprised you could see me. Until I realized you're no more of a spirit yourself."

Mavis gaped a few time. "Huh?"

"Surely you know about Mother Nature."

"I-I do. I just don't know…why you're here."

Mother Nature gave a noncommittal hum. "This place drew me in. And I was bored," she replied. "And don't worry about the others seeing me. Only you can."

"Okay."

"So what are you going to do about your penalty game?"

How could she think about that at a time like this? "I don't know."

"I have an idea, if you're up for it. Mind you, it will be wildly entertaining," replied Mother Nature with a devilish smirk.

Mavis didn't want to think about the consequences of denying her. "Okay. What did you have in mind?"

* * *

That night, Natsu, his team, and the rest of the guild sat comfortably about the guild hall, awaiting Mavis's production of the Mini Musical, as she was calling it.

"Good evening, everyone," Mavis announced from the center f the stage she had created. "I hope all of you are ready for one great performance. Gray, Lucy, Gajeel, Rogue, and Erza have undergone quite a transformation, and they've practiced their songs meticulously. So are we ready to have some fun?"

The audience hooted in response.

"All right! Let's reveal our cast!" she cried as the curtain lifted.

And then they appeared.

"Gray's got boobies!" shouted Happy.

"Lucy's a man?!" screamed Natsu.

"G-Gajeel and Rogue are women, too!" stammered Lector.

"Fro thinks so, too."

"E-Erza!" Natsu looked like he was about to shit himself. Erza looked even scarier as a guy.

"It's all right," insisted Mavis. "It's just a gender-bending illusion."

A flash of light appeared, and Loke suddenly appeared. "My princess, I sensed you were trouble, so I—ack! L-Lucy?!"

"Say one word," Lucy ground out in a deep voice, "and I will kill you." Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, she resisted the urge to start jumping up and down. Her chest felt so…light. What was it like to jump without boobs? She was so tempted to find out.

Gray, on the other hand, looked like he wanted to murder someone. His hair was longer, and he had…boobs. It made him shiver. Gajeel and Rogue were not taking this too well, either. Rogue was slimmer with longer hair and blushing. Gajeel looked to be the size of Levy—which was quite odd—and still had the numerous piercings; he looked as though if anyone approached him, he'd kill them on the spot.

Erza just stood there stoically, still dressed in armor, her hair much shorter. The requip mage's glare, however, was just as deadly. Maybe even more so.

Overall, they looked pretty hot, but extremely pissed.

"Each person will step up and sing a song they have practicing. All chosen by me! Now let the show begin!"

Lucy stepped up first, face bursting into flames due to embarrassment.

* * *

 **'** _ **Cause I'm a Blonde**_ **by Julie Brown**

 **[Sung by Lucy]**

* * *

Rogue hesitantly approached the audience next, struggling to keep his nervousness subdued.

* * *

 _ **My Boyfriend's Back**_ **by Angels**

 **[Sung by Rogue]**

* * *

Gajeel was next, and Levy hid her face behind her hands, peeking through her fingers. If he wasn't going to be embarrassed, she would be for the both of them.

* * *

 _ **Man! I Feel Like a Woman**_ **by Shania Twain**

 **[Sung by Gajeel]**

* * *

Erza came to the stage with a proud presence and a determined look on her face.

* * *

 _ **I'll Make a Man Out of You**_ **from** _ **Mulan**_

 **[Sung by Erza]**

* * *

The final performance rested with Gray, who was seething in rage.

* * *

 _ **I Feel Pretty**_ **from** _ **West Side Story**_

 **[Sung by Gray]**

* * *

"It's finally over!" exclaimed Lucy. "Can we change back now?"

"Aw, come now, Lucy," said Loke. "I thought you were cute."

Natsu chose that time to stroll up to Gray.

"Don't you _dare_ laugh," the ice mage warned.

But Natsu couldn't resist teasing him just a little bit. "So you feel _pretty_ , do you?"

"Mavis!" Gray snapped. "Change me back now."

Mavis looked to her side and nodded. Soon, the five performers were back to normally.

Gray turned his attention back to Natsu. "I'm going to pound you into next week!"

Natsu paled visibly as he took a hesitant step back. Gray had never threatened to fight him while they were dating. "You wouldn't dare try to fight me!"

Gray was taken aback for a moment, puzzled by Natsu's reaction. Then it dawned on him. "Not 'pound' like that! The other one!"

"The other one?" Natsu echoed. There was no other one unless…Gray was referring to the 'in the bed' kind of pounding. "Waah!" he shrieked as he was thrown unceremoniously over Gray's shoulder.

"Come on, flamebrain. We're leaving," gray announced as he made his way out of the guild.

"Put me down! I don't want you to pound me into next week! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" the fire mage wailed, wriggling back and forth in Gray's arms.

"To bad. I'm getting all the dragon luvins I can get after this whole thing," the ice mage mumbled.

"Um…Gray? You do know you're still wearing girly clothes, right?"

"Of course I do. It'll be off soon enough anyway," he hinted, squeezing his lover's ass.

"GRAY!"

"Well, that was fun!" said Mother Nature, a huge grin plastered to her face. "We'll have to hang out again sometime."

Mavis smiled in return. "Anytime."

* * *

 **Author's Note – My brain was stumped. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Fairy Tale***


	23. Fairy Tale

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Natsu should never be trusted with magical items. Unless you want to witness the hilarious consequences.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Fairy Tale (Rated T)**

"I don't want it! Why are you giving it to me?!" Natsu exclaimed when Sting thrust the magical book into his hands. It was a large book, very old and musty. He could just make out the words _Fairy Tales_ on the cover in faded gold lettering.

"Because, Natsu. I need to find a safe place for it. It's not safe with Lector and Frosch running around, you know? They're always getting into mischief," replied Sting with a shrug after a brief moment of hesitation.

And Sting thought dropping it off at _his_ place would be safer than Sabertooth?! "So you're giving it to me because...?"

"You keep it safe for now until I find better place for it."

Natsu gaped at him before turning his attention back to the book. "And what am I supposed to do with it? Bury it in the woods? Why can't you give it to Rogue? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Rogue and I are busy working with your Master right now. And everyone back home is busy. You're not on a mission, so you're not as busy," stated Sting matter-of-factly. "And if you do a good job, I might talk you up to Gray," he added with a wink.

He was about to protest, but the thought of Sting talking him up to Gray was an opportunity he didn't want to miss out on. "Okay. You've got yourself a deal."

Sting smacked a hand to Natsu's back and laughed. "Good. I'll see you soon." And with that, he disappeared.

Clutching the book to his chest, Natsu walked over to a large tree next to his house. Propping himself up against the trunk, he traced his fingers over the faded lettering, wondering what he could do to pass the time.

On a whim, he decided to head to Gray's apartment. It had been some time since he'd visited the place, and he could do with some fun. Even if Gray had practically forbidden him from entering it.

Okay, well, he _had_ been forbidden from entering it. But it wasn't his fault that a spider had landed on his arm. He hated spiders. So he couldn't really be blamed for swinging his arms like a madman, thus burning the entire apartment with his fire and nearly destroying the place.

The rage that had radiated off of Gray at that moment had sent him running. And it had taken months for the ice mage to put his apartment back together. After that, Natsu had been banned from entering.

Once he arrived, it seemed Gray wasn't there, so it couldn't hurt to look around the apartment for a bit. He set the book down on a rickety table on the far side of the room and wandered around. Twirling his scarf in his hands, Natsu browsed around, wondering what he should do.

Immediately growing bored—and disappointed from the lack of knick-knacks he could play with—Natsu decided playing with his scarf while no one was around would be more fun than doing nothing at all.

So he took it off and began whirling it around. And when that failed to entertain him, he decided to pretend it was a whip, so he slashed the air, fighting invisible fiends as he channeled his magical power through it.

"Fire Dragon's Flaming Scarf!" he shouted as he cackled in delight. This was fun!

Suddenly, his scarf began vibrating. Well, that was new. But instead of throwing it across the room like a normal person would when an inanimate object started moving of its own accord, he held it up to examine it. And when he did, the fire magic he'd channeled through it shot out of the scarf and hit the table on the far side of the room.

Natsu dropped the scarf then. However, that wasn't the only thing that fell. The book he'd placed on said table plummeted to the floor…and it was glowing. Natsu knew from experience that if an inanimate object started glowing, chances were the outcome would not be good.

"Great," Natsu muttered under his breath, fully expecting the book to come to life and eat him or something. But nothing happened. In fact, the book stopped glowing altogether.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Natsu reached down to grab his scarf. As he did so, the book suddenly flew open, pages whirring speedily before they abruptly stopped.

The book began glowing again.

But that wasn't what had Natsu shaking in his metaphorical boots. It was the fact that some glowing orb shot out of the book. The orb then began to morph and take shape, turning into a—

"Wolf!" Natsu shrieked, scrambling away from the large wolf that was now present in the apartment.

The wolf slowly crept toward Natsu and it seemed to be…smirking? "All the better to eat you with, my dear," it growled before pouncing.

Natsu cringed, fully expecting to be mauled. But when he didn't feel claws piercing his skin or teeth sinking into his flesh, he opened his eyes. And his jaw dropped.

"Away, foul beast!" cried Natsu's savior. The man fending off the wolf with a sword looked like a knight, only fancier. And soon enough, the wolf scampered away from them, only to jump out the window. Then the man turned around. "Are you all right, fair creature?"

Natsu's jaw dropped even further. "Wha—?"

"I am Prince Charming, fair one," said the prince, taking Natsu's hand and kissing it. "And you are?"

Natsu was having a hard time forming words. And it was mainly due to the fact that this Prince Charming looked exactly like Gray. Except he was wearing a puffy outfit, had incredibly nice manners, and a charming smile. Maybe that was why he was called Prince Charming.

Wait! Prince Charming? A wolf?

Shoving the poor prince out of his way, Natsu dove at the book and shut it. "Shit!" he hissed. This was a book of fairy tales, which meant…did that mean fairy tale characters would keep pouring out of the book?

Well, it seemed the book wanted to answer his question, because as soon as he'd had the thought, the book flew out of his hands and opened up again. What in the world was going to come out of it this time?

Natsu took a step back when something—no, _seven_ somethings—popped out of the book. Dwarves? The seven _dwarves_?

"This can't be happening," said Natsu as he eyed the seven dwarves.

"Come on, men," said one of the dwarves. "Let's get to work."

"Work?" Natsu blurted. "What do you—no! Not the floor!" But it was too late. The dwarves had decided that _mining_ the floor of the apartment was their mission now. Gray was going to kill him.

A tap on Natsu's shoulder brought him out of his stupor. "Fair one? Shall I slay these creatures for you?"

What was _with_ this guy? "Slay? No! I don't want you slaying anything!"

"Are you sure?"

"Or course I'm sure!"

"Not even him?"

Natsu turned around to see just who Prince Charming was pointing at. And it was another little man, but he wasn't a dwarf.

And he had the book!

"Give it to me!" Natsu yelled, pouncing on the man, but he soon scrambled out of his reach.

"You have to catch me first!" cried the little man as he scurried toward the front door.

"Get back here!" Natsu bolted after him, shooting fire every now and then in hopes of hitting his target. He had to catch him—and quick! There was no telling what else might come out of that book.

As he made it outside, Natsu was determined he was going in the right direction—if the three little pigs scurrying away from him were any clue. And was that the goose that laid the golden eggs?

Shaking his head, he took off and then nearly plowed over the little man. "Gotcha!" Natsu cried. He grabbed the book and tried to yank it away.

"No! It's mine!"

"Give it to me!"

"Wait, I have an idea," said the little man.

Natsu raised an eyebrow while tightening his hold on the book. "What?"

"I'll give you the book, but on one condition," he cackled.

"And what's that?"

"You have to guess my na—!"

"Rumpelstiltskin. Now give me the book!"

The little man did so, a look of shock on his face. He seemed stunned that someone knew his name. Natsu just thanked that whatever might be up there had granted him the opportunity to know Lucy. She knew her fairy tales.

But now that he had the book, what was he going to do?

Well, the book decided it would be a good time to release another character. So when the book flew out of Natsu's hands again, he threw himself against a tree. What was coming out of it this time?

"Another wolf?!" Natsu screeched. But a wolf had already come out of the book! "Please don't eat me."

However, the wolf didn't seem to be paying him any mind. In fact, he just walked up to the apartment building, stood upright and…oh, no.

The wolf huffed…and he puffed…and he blew down the second floor of the apartment building down. Thank goodness Gray was the only one who lived up there. And that the building was only two stories.

Natsu felt his jaw drop for what felt like the hundredth time that day, so he didn't really notice that all the fairy tale characters that had been running rampant in the apartment had bolted before it was too late.

"Excuse me, but you dropped this."

Natsu turned to find Prince Charming—the Gray Fullbuster lookalike—offering him his scarf. "Um, thanks."

"May I ask what your name is now?"

"Uh, Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."

"That's a beautiful name," replied the prince, looking quite smitten.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Natsu questioned, taking a hesitant step back.

"I do believe I've found my damsel in distress. I shall save you, and then we shall live happily ever after."

Natsu smacked himself in the forehead with his palm. Great. He'd just released fairy tale characters into the world, Prince Charming was after him, and the book—the book!

"I need to find Sting!" Natsu exclaimed, snatching his scarf out of the prince's hands and taking off. With the scarf and the book—and Prince Charming following him—he ran further into Magnolia, fully expecting to see the town already engulfed in flames.

Breathing a sigh of relief when it wasn't, he glanced over the surrounding area. Where should he go? Should he go find Sting? Or Erza?

Or perhaps…HE SHOULD FIND A WAY TO STOP LOSING THE BOOK WHENEVER IT WANTED TO RELEASE A CHARACTER!

Scrambling for the book, he braced himself for whatever hideous creature would come forth this time. But it was nothing but…a peddler. Well, that was a relief.

"Excuse me, sir," said the peddler, opening his hand to reveal some beans. "Can I interest you in some magic beans?"

"I don't want any beans! No beans!" cried Natsu, smacking the peddler's hand away. "I have bigger problems to deal with than you!"

And boy was he right. Once he'd hit the peddler's hand, the beans fell to the ground, sank into the earth, and up shot a giant beanstalk.

Natsu stared at the ominous plant. Well, things could have been worse. But maybe he thought that too soon.

"What's that rumbling sound?" asked Natsu as he looked up at the sky.

"I do believe it's the giant," replied Prince Charming calmly.

"Giant?!" Natsu screamed. "No! I've got to stop this! Take off your belt!"

The prince's eyes widened as he froze, a blush staining his cheeks. "But—my fair one—we must be married before—!"

"Not that! I'm going to use your belt to keep the book closed!" he said, nearly ripping the belt from Prince Charming's waist. "And I've already got a prince. Well, an ice prince, anyway."

"Oh?" responded Prince Charming, his eyes narrowing. "Perhaps he's not the right man of royalty for you if he's going to let his fair one remain in danger."

Natsu paused when he realized what he'd said. Did he actually say that out loud? He hadn't even told the real Gray about his feelings yet.

Groaning, he secured the belt tightly around the book. Natsu held it against his chest before pointing at the prince. "Just shut up and do as I say. I need to get to the guild."

"Guild? What is this…guild?"

Natsu resisted the urge to set fire to this man. "Just follow me. And do not attack anything with that sword!"

* * *

Sting jumped when he heard the door to the guild burst open and slam against the wall. His head shot up, only to see a flustered looking Natsu and…Gray in a weird costume. But then he noticed something even odder.

"We are in the middle of a meeting, Natsu," stated Makarov seriously.

"Why have you brought the book back, Natsu?" inquired Sting.

"Help me!" Natsu shrieked as he threw himself at him.

"Is this your _prince_?" snarled Prince Charming.

"Why is Gray staring at me like that?"

"He's not Gray! He's Prince Charming!" Natsu corrected, his arms flailing.

"What?"

"Look!" Natsu started. "After you gave me the book, I was playing around with my scarf in Gray's apartment. It did something to the book," he said, slamming the book of fairy tales on the table. "And now fairy tale characters keep popping out of it! He's one of them!"

Sting looked from the book to the scarf, to Natsu, to…Prince Charming. "Rogue?"

"Yes?" came his partner's voice from the other room as he came into the main part of the guild.

"We have problems!" exclaimed Sting.

Rogue rolled his eyes before he caught sight of a disheveled Natsu and a weird looking Gray Fullbuster.

"What's all the commotion out here?" started Lucy, making her way out to them with Erza and Wendy following. "Gray? Why are you dressed like that?"

"Who is this Gray all of you keep referring to?" snapped the prince, finally losing his patience.

"Are you all right, Gray?" inquired Erza.

"For the last time, I am not Gray! I am Prince Charming! Why do you people not understand this?"

Wendy blinked a few times before pulling whispering something to Charle. The female Exceed quickly disappeared.

"I am going to take my damsel, and we are going to live happily ever after!" declared the prince, grabbing Natsu by the waist and pulling him toward him.

Suddenly, the temperature dropped in the guild. And a few seconds later, the _real_ Gray Fullbuster appeared. When he saw Natsu in the arms of a doppelganger, something came over him. "Get your hands off of him," the ice mage ground out.

"Aha! A foe!"

"Gray!" Natsu cried, throwing himself at the ice mage. "It's not what you think! He's a character from a book! He's not—!"

"This is your prince?" commented Prince Charming, eyeing his rival up and down. "He doesn't look like a prince. For one, princes are clothed."

"At least I don't look like some frilly fruitcake," spat Gray.

"You dare insult me?"

"When someone lays their hands on what is rightfully mine, I'll do more than just insult you."

"Fine! Then a duel we shall have!" replied Prince Charming.

"Fine," agreed Gray.

"But perhaps we should do this outside. Things could get messy in here."

As the two figures left the guild, Natsu's mind began to race a mile a minute. Wait, he was Gray's? When did that happen? What did that mean? And these two had _completely_ different ideas as to what a duel was! And that meant…

"No! No duel!" Natsu screamed as he ran out of the guild, his friends following suit. But it was too late. The duel had begun.

Prince Charming withdrew his sword from its sheath, brandishing it skillfully.

Gray, on the other hand, placed his fist in his palm, ice swirling around it. "No one—and I mean _no one_ —messes with what is mine. Ice Make Dragon," he growled, morphing his ice into a ferocious looking dragon. It seemed his training with Lyon had finally paid off.

The prince flinched as he witnessed the dragon roar before him. "What sorcery is this? Royalty doesn't tame dragons!"

Grinning sadistically, Gray sent his dragon forward. This was going to hurt. "Dinner time."

Before they knew it, Gray's dragon began chasing down Prince Charming, him screaming all the way.

"Uh, Natsu?" Sting called, his voice shaking.

Natsu turned to find the man pointing at the book in his arms. Glancing down, he realized the whole book was starting to glow. And it was _vibrating_?

Throwing the book onto the ground, Natsu jumped back when the belt busted, allowing the possessed text to spew forth more characters from even _more_ stories. But this time, they shot off in all directions. Apparently, the book had decided to seek vengeance for being bound.

 _Boom!_

"What the heck is that?" asked Lucy.

 _BOOM!_

Natsu's eyes widened in realization. "Everybody in the guild! It's the giant!" How had it gotten here so fast?

"Giant! You released a giant?!" screeched Lucy.

"Just shut up and run!" shouted Natsu.

Everyone bolted for the guild, slamming the door shut as soon as they got inside.

"That was close," muttered Natsu as he slid down onto the floor.

"Wait! Where's Master Makarov?" gasped Rogue.

"I think he just got kidnapped by the seven dwarves," said Sting as he looked out the window.

" _What_?" shrieked Erza. They all watched as Erza raced after Makarov.

"Natsu?" called Lucy.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"You might want to go back outside."

"Why?"

"Because this weird little man just grabbed the book."

Natsu's head turned so fast, he was surprised he didn't break his neck. "Again?!" he screamed as he ran out of the guild, his friends following just in case they needed to help. "Give me back that book!"

The little man cackled as he danced with the book. "I'll give it back if you can guess my na—!"

"RUMPELSTILTSKIN!" everyone shouted. They weren't about to let that book out of their sight.

Rumpelstiltskin threw the book at Natsu, nearly taking his head off. "Why do you people know my name? Do you know how infuriating that is? Well, fine! I'm changing it! You haven't heard the last of me!" he declared, waving his fist in the air before running off.

Natsu felt his body sag. Turning back to face his friends, his heart skipped a beat again.

"Would you like an apple, my dear?" asked an old lady, offering Wendy an apple.

"Well, they are good for you," Wendy replied with a small smile.

"No!" screamed Natsu, knocking the apple away from his friend. He then grabbed the basket of poisoned apples and chucked it at the old hag. "No apples!"

"Natsu! What on earth is going on?!"

Natsu turned around to see Gray marching toward him, looking absolutely pissed. "Magic?"

"Is that my bo—." Gray paused when he saw Erza chasing after the seven dwarves, who kept swearing up and down that she was trying to steal their long lost grandfather from them.

"That's it!" cried Natsu, throwing the book down onto the ground. He held up his fists and brought them down, hitting the book relentlessly. "Stupid book! Stupid stories!"

With one final flaming punch, a beam erupted from the book.

Screeching, Natsu jumped back as he saw glowing orbs filling the sky and getting sucked up by the book. The text began to glow and then…stopped.

"That's it?" Natsu deadpanned. "All I had to do—this whole time—was punch the book with my fists?"

"Is…is that my book?" inquired Gray. "Who stole my book?"

"You saw all of that and all you care about is that Sting stole your book?!" Natsu exclaimed, whacking Gray in the head with said book.

"What— _Sting_ stole my book. Why?"

Sting had the decency to look sheepish. "It was all part of a master plan…that didn't turn out as expected." Well, at least he got Gray and Natsu talking?

Gray glared. "This book becomes magical when struck by something magical, you idiot!"

"Well, I know that now."

Natsu sighed and inwardly groaned when Gray and Sting started going at it. He was just glad that the fairy tale catastrophe was over.

* * *

By the time Natsu and Gray made it back to the latter's place, the ice mage's eyes narrowed.

"Why is the entire floor to my apartment gone?" asked Gray.

Natsu looked at him awkwardly. "Uh, I'll explain later. Let's just go to my place."

"What happened to my apartment?!" roared Gray.

Natsu's eyes widened dramatically.

"Natsu! Just look at this place," snapped Gray. "Everything is destroyed."

The fire mage fidgeted. "I'm sorry, Gray. I didn't know this was going to happen."

Gray sighed. "It's for the best, I suppose."

"What do you mean?" Natsu asked, confusion evident in his voice.

The ice mage shrugged his shoulders. "We were going to have to move in together, anyway. I guess it's fine that it's mostly in ruins. We can start from scratch at your place."

"What do you mean _we_?"

"You can't expect me to do all the decorating on our home, can you?" replied Gray, his eyes meeting Natsu's. There was something in them, something different Natsu couldn't quite identify.

"Our home?" Natsu echoed.

"Yes." Natsu suddenly found Gray to be very close to him. _Very_ close. "I am your _prince_ , aren't I?"

Natsu's eyes widened as he shoved Gray away. "You heard that?! You weren't supposed to—stop messing with me! I'll fix this place up, and then I'll leave you alone for good!"

"And why would I want that?" asked Gray, reaching for Natsu again. He pulled him into an embrace. "What if I _want_ to be your prince, hm? What then?"

"What?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Gray sighed in exasperation. He lifted Natsu's chin and pressed their lips together for a brief kiss. "Do you understand now?"

Natsu blushed in realization, but decided to tease Gray for a bit longer. "Not really. But I'm sure I'll get it eventually. If you're up for it."

Gray snickered as he accepted the unspoken challenge. "I think I can manage," he said before pulling Natsu into a passionate kiss.

* * *

 **Author's Note – I kind of love my brain. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Cat***


	24. Cat

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Sting really needs to stop angering people.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating M.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Cat (Rated M)**

Sting's eyes narrowed. He had absolutely no idea how he'd gotten himself into this mess, but he knew it must have had something to do with pissing off a couple of his fellow guild mates over at Sabertooth. It had to have been either Minerva or Rogue. Yukino wouldn't do something this…cruel.

But, now that he thought on it, Minerva and Rogue had probably worked together on this little _mission_ , and he used that term loosely.

Now he just had to figure out how to get out of his current predicament. He didn't know where to go, so he'd just been wandering…and wandering…and wandering.

And that's how he found himself standing on all fours outside of the Fairy Tail Guild. Surely someone here would help him. If he could figure out how to get in. And if they could figure out he'd been turned into a cat.

The second someone opened the door, however, he darted inside, making sure to avoid getting stepped on. He sat underneath a table and watched the scene before him. Was Fairy Tail always like this? All they did was fight.

* * *

"Who knocked over my cake?" Erza demanded, pointing a sharp blade at Natsu and Gray.

"Don't look at me!" the fire mage said in a shaky voice. "Stripper did it!"

"I did not!" retaliated Gray.

"Erza, I'll just get you another slice," cut in Lucy, trying to appease the requip mage and lessen the damage she could do to her friends and the guild.

* * *

Sting didn't have time for this.

He wasn't going to wait around forever, he decided. He needed to get their attention. And fast. But what to do?

Frowning in thought, he internally smirked when an idea struck him. He never liked Gray anyway; he hung around Natsu _way_ too much.

* * *

Erza, Lucy, and Natsu flinched when Gray started screaming and flailing about. They looked down in confusion when he started shaking his leg.

Natsu started laughing his ass off when he noticed a cat latched to the ice mage's leg. "That's what you get for stripping."

Erza, on the other hand, grabbed the scruff of the cat's neck. The cat released Gray. It hissed at him. The requip mage then dropped it in Lucy's lap. "Here."

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Lucy. "I'm not taking care of a cat. You take it!" She shoved the poor creature into Natsu's arms.

"Why do I gotta take it?"

"You've already raised a cat."

"He's not a cat! He's my friend!"

"JUST SHUT UP AND TAKE THE DAMN CAT!" Lucy screamed.

Natsu pulled the cat closer to his chest while Lucy glared at him. He'd never known she could sound like Erza. "A-Aye."

* * *

"We're home, Blue," said Natsu as he entered his house.

Sting rolled his eyes at the name. The fire mage had kept calling him that ever since they'd left the guild, and it was all because he had 'really blue eyes.'

So he came to the conclusion that Natsu was really bad at coming up with names. He named his Exceed Happy for crying out loud! Who does that?!

Suddenly, Sting felt himself land softly on a bed.

"Stay here," said Natsu. "I'll get you something to eat."

With that, the fire mage walked away, leaving Sting to fully take in his surroundings.

 _He's messier than I am_ , he thought in surprise. _And that's saying something!_

"All right. Here you go," announced Natsu, setting plate on the floor with a raw fish on it.

Sting looked at the fish, and then he looked at Natsu. He looked at the fish again, and then he hissed at Natsu.

"What is it Blue? You don't like fish?" the fire mage asked in surprise. "But Happy loves fish!"

 _I'm not Happy_ , Sting though. Oh, how he wished he could talk.

"Maybe Blue doesn't like it raw," Natsu mumbled to himself.

Sting's claws abruptly gripped the bed, eyes widening when Natsu decided blasting the raw fish with his fire magic was the way to go.

"There you go!" Natsu said proudly. "Eat up!"

Sting stared at the fish which had been charred black. It did smell pretty good now. And he was really hungry.

Hopping onto the floor, Sting decided to tap the fish with his paw. It promptly crumbled to ash. He looked up and Natsu and meowed.

The fire mage scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Um, hoe about a dish of milk instead."

Sting sighed. It was better than nothing.

* * *

"All right, Blue. Time for bed," said Natsu as he flopped backward on the bed. He set his new cat friend on a pillow next to his head before pulling the covers up over him. "It's actually kinda nice having you around. Happy's not here much anymore. He's always hanging out with Charle. I miss him."

Sting noticed the sad expression on Natsu's face. Was the fire mage saying he was lonely?

Sting approached Natsu and licked his cheek. Then his rubbed his head against the fire mage's face and purred.

"Are you trying to make me feel better?" Natsu asked with a small smile. "Thanks, Blue. Now let's get some sleep."

Once Sting felt Natsu settle down, he curled up against him, hoping that his presence would make Natsu feel less alone.

* * *

Natsu sighed softly and snuggled deeper into the warmth beside him. He'd never felt so comfortable before. All he wanted to do was stay beside this source of heat forever and bask in the joy of feeling safe and protected.

He wrapped his arms around the heat source beside him and sighed again, then frowned. His brows furrowed together in confusion as he slid his hand down the side of the object he was holding. He heard a soft moan at that and quickly opened his eyes to see what—or who—he was holding.

His eyes widened in both surprise and horror. Sting Eucliffe.

"AAH!"

The white dragon-slayer woke with a jolt, looking around in uncertainty. "What?"

"What?! What do you mean what?! You're in my bed!" Natsu shrieked, blushing after he looked down. "And you're naked! Why the hell are you naked?!" he added, quickly throwing off his covers to cover the nude mage. "What the hell, Sting?!"

Sting frowned and looked down at himself in confusion before his lips twisted into a smug smile. He looked up at Natsu. "Well, Sting is a step up from Blue."

"I just _knew_ Gray's stripping habit was contagious! And now you've turned into some perverted stalker!" the fire mage exclaimed before Sting's words registered in his head. "Wait. Blue?"

"As I recall, you liked the name because I have 'really blue eyes.' Remember?"

Natsu paled as he came to a conclusion with the clues he'd just had thrown at him. Sting was Blue. Blue was Sting. He'd incinerated one of Happy's fish for Sting. Happy was going to be so pissed.

"You asshole!" he shouted before scrambling to get up. He let out a yelp as the white dragon-slayer grabbed his wrists and yanked him back down, causing him to straddle his lap.

"Can I at least thank you before you get all flustered and storm off?" Sting asked, raising an eyebrow before showing the fire mage another smile. "Thank you for taking care of me even though Lucy threatened you. Thank you for trying to feed me even though you incinerated my fish. The milk was definitely better than that. And I'm sorry you've felt so lonely. If it means anything, I've missed you."

"You're welcome! Now let me go! Wait…what?" It was Natsu's turn to frown in confusion. "You…missed me?"

"Yes. I've missed you," said Sting truthfully, and he was rewarded with a small blush. He smirked. "And I'll have you know, I missed _all_ f you."

Natsu blushed even more when Sting squeezed his hips somewhat. "Really?"

Sting nodded, his smirk fading into a sincerely amused smile. "So will you consider going out with me Friday?"

Natsu paused. "R-Really? You mean it?"

"Of course I mean it," the white dragon-slayer replied, sighing and rolling his eyes. He then looked down at his waist and sighed. "Can I borrow some pants?"

A light blush spread across Natsu's cheeks as he bit his bottom lip and thought. "Um, I'm not sure if I have anything that'll fit you. You are a bit taller than me."

"You know, you look really molestable right now," Sting stated bluntly.

"Excuse me?!" the fire mage exclaimed, hurriedly standing up, only to be yanked back down.

"It's true, Natsu," Sting replied, his voice lowering to a husky whisper as he looked into the other's eyes. "Because right now, all I really want to do is make love to you so that I can see the expression on your face as I pleasure you and take your innocence."

Natsu squeaked and tried to get away from him. "You really are a pervert! Let me go!"

Sting chuckled. "You'd be taking mine, too," he said as Natsu scrambled over to a dresser to find some pants for Sting to wear.

"These should fit you!" Natsu snapped, throwing a pair of sweats at the other dragon-slayer. He really needed Sting to shut up. His face felt like it was melting.

Sting sighed and stood, letting the covers drop as he went o put on the offered pants. He smirked when he heard Natsu whine in embarrassment. Sting looked up just in time to see Natsu place his hands over his burning cheeks.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

 **Author's Note – I hope you appreciated this. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Trouble Lurking***


	25. Trouble Lurking

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Rogue senses a threat around every corner.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Trouble Lurking (Rated T)**

As soon as his hand touched the book, Rogue whipped his head up, knowing that something—no, _someone_ —was watching him…again. Lifting the book, the dragon-slayer peered over his shoulder, but saw nothing. Shrugging, he placed the book in his arms and continued on his way home.

It wasn't until he'd nearly reached the apartment complex he lived in that he felt eyes on him again, which wasn't unusual considering how famous he and the other members of Sabertooth were. But this just _seemed_ different.

He stopped and turned around. "Who's there?" Rogue didn't really expect an answer, but it was worth a shot.

Looking around a few more times, he inwardly shrugged before jogging up the steps to the complex, leisurely making his way to his apartment. Key in hand, he slipped it into the lock, and opened the door.

As he shut the door behind him, he tossed his keys on a small table and dropped his book on the couch, where he clumsily plopped himself next to it. He let his head fall back, closing his eyes and basking in the silence.

Until he heard something fall in the kitchen.

And did someone just hiss?

Leaping off the couch, Rogue grabbed for the nearest weapon—which happened to be a rolled up piece of newspaper—and crept toward the kitchen.

"Who's—Sting?!" the shadow dragon-slayer exclaimed incredulously. "What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"

The white dragon-slayer froze, not expecting to have been caught, apparently. "Nothing."

"Nothing? You break into my apartment and you call that nothing?"

"…"

"Wait. Is this about that nonsense you were talking to me about earlier?"

"What…nonsense?" Sting replied, trying to look confused. Perhaps he could try and fake being drugged to get out of this situation.

"The whole speech you gave me yesterday about finding the key to my heart."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the white dragon-slayer deadpanned.

Rogue glared at him. "You _broke_ into my apartment!"

Perhaps faking being drugged wasn't such a bad idea after all. "I didn't break in."

"Then how else do you explain being in here?!" he snapped.

"I used a key."

"A…huh?"

"Your spare key that you keep under the mat. It's quite stupid, actually. Anyone could break in," Sting admitted.

"You think?!" Rogue roared, not wanting to acknowledge that it was Frosch who'd done such a thing. "Wait! Are you the one who's been stalking me, too?"

At this, Sting looked guilty. "I wouldn't call it stalking."

The shadow dragon-slayer sputtered in response. "Then what the hell would you call it?!"

"…actively pursuing?"

Rogue pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache coming on. Why did the socially inept people have to take interest in him? "Can't you just ask me out on a date like a normal human being?"

"…that would work?"

"It's better than stalking someone!"

"Point taken," replied Sting a bit sheepishly. "So is that it then? The key to your heart? A date?"

Rogue resisted the urge to slam his head into the wall. "It's a start."

* * *

 **Author's Note – I needed a little Sting x Rogue in here. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Tears***


	26. Tears

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Prequel to Seeking Solace.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Tears (Rated T)**

Natsu grinned maliciously at the defeated bandits. This solo mission had been a piece of cake! And he hadn't even destroyed the town!

Much…

He turned on his heel and immediately approached the mayor of the small town. "Mission accomplished!" he said, giving the mayor and townspeople a thumbs up.

"M-Monster!" the mayor stammered, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Huh?" Natsu began when he noticed the frightened looks on everyone's faces. "I'm not a monster. You hired me to take out the bandits."

"Take whatever you want!" stammered the mayor before he turned to his citizens. "Run! Hide! Before he destroys us, too!"

Natsu took a hesitant step forward. "But…" He flinched when people began screaming and racing inside, slamming doors shut behind them in the process.

The town now looked deserted. Why had the townspeople reacted like that? He was just doing his job like they'd asked him to.

But he'd been called a monster. He wasn't a monster…was he?

His heart heavy with dark thoughts, he left the town and made his way home.

* * *

"Welcome back, Natsu!" greeted Happy when his friend entered their house. "How was your mission?"

The fire mage dropped his bag on the floor and grunted in response. "I'm going to bed."

"But…it's not even lunchtime yet," protested Happy as he watched Natsu trudge upstairs to his bedroom.

"I'm tired," he replied. "Can you let the guild know I completed the mission?"

"Sure," said Happy, confused by his friend's behavior. "Get some rest."

The Exceed's only response was the bedroom door slamming shut.

* * *

"Hi, Happy!" Lucy welcomed. "Is Natsu back yet?"

"Yeah. He just returned," answered the Exceed. "I'm gonna let Mira know he finished the mission. Natsu was too tired to come here and do it himself."

"That doesn't sound like Natsu," Erza stated, putting a forkful of strawberry cake in her mouth. "Is he feeling all right?"

Happy just shrugged. "I don't know. He came home and went to bed. He didn't even want lunch," he said before heading to the bar.

Erza, Lucy, and Gray stilled. Natsu denied lunch? That was like the sign of the apocalypse.

"Should we go check on him?" Lucy voiced, worry seeping into her tone.

"Do we really have to?" asked Gray, not liking the idea of checking up on the flamebrain. He didn't want to seem like he cared.

"I'll do it," said Erza, finishing off her cake. "You and Gray can go on that mission without me. It's only the next town over. It shouldn't take more than a day. Take Happy with you."

"That sounds like fun!" said Happy, returning from his talk with Mira. "I wasn't with Natsu on this last one. It'll be good to stretch my wings a bit."

Lucy still looked concerned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," said Erza, standing up and pushing in her chair as she made to leave. "It'll be fine."

* * *

Erza couldn't remember the last time she'd been at Natsu and Happy's house. It hadn't changed much save for some extra plant growth that desperately needed trimming.

Approaching the door, she knocked.

No answer.

So she knocked again, this time a bit harder.

Still no answer.

She crossed her arms and huffed. If she knocked any harder, she'd probably destroy the door.

"I wonder if it's unlocked," she muttered under her breath. Grabbing the knob, she twisted it, and it turned easily. She'd have to reprimand Natsu and Happy of the dangers of leaving their door unlocked. Anyone could get in.

Stepping inside the small house, she looked around, surprised for once that it didn't look like a dump. At least Natsu had listened to her about _something_.

Taking the stairs two at a time, she reached the fire mage's bedroom. Rapping lightly on the door, she expected an immediate answer.

She received none.

Was Natsu even home?

Opening the bedroom door, she peered inside and noticed a mound underneath the blankets on the bed. Erza frowned.

Stomping up to the bed, she was about to give Natsu a piece of her mind when she noticed a cringing expression on the fire mage's face.

Natsu was asleep. And if she didn't know any better, she'd say he was having a nightmare.

"Natsu?" she called, pushing a few strands of hair away from his sweat-soaked face. He didn't wake, but the slight touch seemed to calm him somewhat. His breathing evened out, and he settled back down.

At that moment, Erza wasn't sure what to do. Should she try waking him again or let him sleep? The latter choice seemed to win her over, so she sat on the floor near the edge of the bed and watched Natsu.

What had made the fire mage fret so in his sleep?

Sighing, she continued to stroke his face, hoping it would give him some comfort. Eventually, her eyes grew heavy, and she dozed off next to Natsu.

* * *

Heat.

That was what roused Erza from sleep. Why was it so hot? It was almost as if she were…burning?!

Her eyes shot open just in time to see Natsu's bed erupt in flames. Scrambling away from the bed, she spotted Natsu in the middle of it all; however, he was still asleep.

"Natsu!" she shouted.

The fire mage stirred and gradually opened his eyes. Realizing what was happening, he immediately dissipated the flames. Sitting up, he looked over at Erza, who was staring at him apprehensively.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked softly.

Erza shook her head, watching him as he sighed in relief.

"That…happens sometimes," he said, knowing Erza would ask. "It's why Happy doesn't sleep with me anymore. He uses the hammock downstairs."

Natsu got out of the bed and started pulling his burnt blankets off it. "Can you open the window?" he asked.

Erza turned around and opened it, letting the smoky air out. When she looked back, she noticed that Natsu had dumped the blankets in a corner and lay back down on his bed.

"What're you doing here?" Natsu asked as he stared up at the ceiling.

"You didn't come to the guild after your mission," Erza replied sternly. "We were worried."

"You were worried," he repeated as if mulling over the words. "About what? Whether the mission was a success? Whether I destroyed the town?"

Erza frowned at the negative tone that had seeped into his voice. "We were worried about _you_. It's not like you to avoid the guild."

"I'm just tired," sighed Natsu, curling onto his side so he didn't have to look at Erza.

The requip mage was at a loss for words, so she decided to change topics. "Do you often set your bed on fire?" she asked, hoping to lighten his mood.

"It was an accident," he said sharply. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"I never said you did. Does it happen often?" she repeated.

Natsu sighed, grabbing a pillow and hugging it. "Only when I have nightmares," he admitted.

 _Nightmares?_ Erza thought. "You have nightmares? About what?" This was new to her. She'd never known Natsu to have nightmares. Gray, yes. But never Natsu.

Natsu clenched the pillow tighter to his chest. "You wouldn't understand," he said, voice cracking.

"You don't know that for sure," Erza replied as she stepped closer to the fire mage.

"No, you wouldn't. You're not…"

"Not what?"

Natsu let out a shaky breath as he tried to keep his tears at bay. "Can you go? Please?"

Erza paused. She'd never seen her friend this upset before. It tore at her heart. "Why would I leave you when I know you're hurting?"

"Because you wouldn't understand!" he snapped, a few tears escaping his eyes. He reluctantly let out a choked sob.

"Then explain it to me," she begged, placing a hand on his trembling shoulder.

That single touch seemed to be his breaking point. "I-I want G-Gajeel!" he sobbed.

Erza had to resist letting her jaw drop open at Natsu's surprising demand. "What?" Surely she had misheard him.

"I-I…w-want G-Gajeel!"

"Are…Are you sure?"

"I w-want Gajeel-nii!" he cried, burying his face into his pillow, sobs wracking his body.

"Fine. I will get you Gajeel," she said as she nearly flew out of the house. This was too much for her. Something was seriously wrong with Natsu if he was referring to Gajeel—Fairy Tail's one and only Gajeel Redfox—as his big brother.

* * *

"Why do you look so…irritated?" Levy asked when she noticed Gajeel kept tapping his fingers relentlessly on the table.

The iron dragon-slayer let out a strained groan. "No idea," he said, tapping his fingers even harder. He wasn't really irritated, per se, but more like…worried. Maybe even anxious. He just couldn't figure out why he felt that way.

Growing frustrated, he slammed his head on the table with a resounding thud.

"Feel better now?" inquired Levy, eyebrow raised.

"No," he replied, turning his head so that he could look at the guild doors. He felt the urge to _go_ somewhere. But where?

His thoughts were soon interrupted when the guild doors banged open, revealing a freaked-out Erza.

"Hey, Erza. You've been gone awhile. The mission went great," said Lucy. "How's Na…tsu?" She was confused when the requip mage ignored her completely and made a beeline for Gajeel.

"Gajeel!" Erza snapped, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the guild.

The dragon-slayer raised his head and looked at her in confusion. What could she possible want with him? "What?"

"Go see Natsu. He's at home."

Whatever Gajeel had been expecting, it wasn't that. "Why?"

Erza exhaled slowly, the action making her look weary. "He wants you."

"For what? A fight?" he said, placing his chin in his hand. "If he wants a fight, he can bring his sorry ass here."

Erza's expression became troubled. "He doesn't want to fight with you. He's been…asking for you. He _needs_ you."

Gajeel looked skeptical. Since when did Salamander _need_ him? Before he could speak, however, Erza cut him off.

"Natsu's not himself right now. I'm worried," Erza stated seriously. "He just keeps asking for you. Go to him. Please."

 _Salamander…is askin' for me?_ Gajeel thought unsurely. _Why?_ Taking a deep breath, he said, "Fine. I'll do it."

"Thank you, Gajeel. I know Natsu will appreciate it."

* * *

The second Gajeel stepped outside the guild, the anxious feeling intensified. As he began walking, he noticed that he quickly picked up his pace, heading in the direction of Natsu's home. Was this feeling he had because of the fire mage?

When he finally reached Natsu's house, he opened the door, not bothering with knocking. He allowed his nose to lead him to the fire mage's location, which was the center of a charred bed.

"Salamander?" Gajeel called out hesitantly when he realized Natsu was clutching a pillow and crying.

The fire mage lifted his tear-stained face from the pillow and looked at Gajeel, fresh tears starting up again. "G-Gajeel-nii!" he cried, sobbing once more.

The iron dragon-slayer froze. Natsu had _never_ called him that before. Sure, he looked to the fire mage as a younger brother and had even teased him about being the older of the two slayers, but Natsu had never referred to him as his older brother. Never. Natsu was always too embarrassed to acknowledge that.

Gajeel approached the bed and sat down on the edge. His voice was cut off, however, when Natsu threw himself at him. The iron dragon-slayer barely had a chance to catch him before Natsu latched onto him and started a whole new wave of crying.

Gently, he placed his arms around the younger slayer. "What's goin' on with ya?" he asked.

Natsu took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. "I keep having nightmares," he said quietly.

Gajeel resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. This shit was only about a nightmare? "What's your point?"

"I-I…k-killed everyone," he gasped, gripping Gajeel's shirt tightly.

The iron dragon-slayer was surprised by the admission. Where the hell had that come from? "Hey. Look at me," he said firmly, trying to make eye contact with the fire mage. When they finally locked gazes, he continued. "Why is that workin' you up so much? It's just a nightmare. It ain't real."

"But it feels so real," Natsu said, averting his eyes.

"What brought this on?" Gajeel asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"E-Everyone…calls me a…m-monster," he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "It's not just from the bad guys we fight on missions. Other people…c-call me that, too. Like the ones who ask for help…and all that. Everyone calls me a monster. So what if…what if it's true?" Natsu asked, returning his gaze to Gajeel's.

"That's what's causin' the nightmares?"

The fire mage nodded. "I get called a monster so much, that I feel like it's true. What if I'm becoming a monster? And what if I hurt my family because of it?"

"If you're a monster," started Gajeel, ruffling Natsu's hair, "then so am I. I've already hurt our family. I've been called a monster and worse, even before I attacked Fairy Tail when I was in Phantom Lord. And let me tell ya, you're far from the monster I am."

"Why…do people call us that?" Natsu asked, honestly wanting an answer. "I don't mean any harm. People have called me a monster since I was a kid. Sometimes I can't help but feel it's true."

"I understand what ya mean, but ya can't let it get ya down," said Gajeel. "People will probably always call us that, but it doesn't mean we're monsters. Got it?"

Natsu placed his forehead against Gajeel's chest and nodded.

"Don't fret about it anymore," added Gajeel, rubbing Natsu's back. "You've got your dragon family and Fairy Tail. None of them think you're a monster."

"Thank you, Gajeel."

"No problem," he replied. "Can I ask ya somethin'?"

"Hm?"

"Why'd ya want _me_?" That was the one thing Gajeel couldn't figure out. Out of everyone in the guild, Natsu had asked for him.

The fire mage snuggled deeper into Gajeel's embrace and yawned. "Big brothers always chase the monsters away," he answered, making the older slayer blush profusely. "Goodnight, Gajeel-nii."

"Hey! Don't you dare fall asl—shit," he grumbled. Sighing, he readjusted himself so that he would be more comfortable with Natsu in his lap. "Goodnight…baby brother."

* * *

 **Author's Note – I forgot to mention I'm a fourth of the way finished! Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Foreign***


	27. Foreign

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: A little one-on-one time with Natsu and Laxus.

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Foreign (Rated T)**

"It's about time you got here," Natsu snapped as he glared up at Laxus from his spot on the grass. "I've been bitten about fifty times by stupid mosquitoes."

"Haven't you ever heard of insectrepellent?" the lightning mage responded as he sat next to him.

"Yeah. But if I used it, you wouldn't come, now, would you?"

"Touché."

"Why do we gotta do this out in the woods, anyway?"

"I would hardly call the park the woods, Natsu."

The fire mage resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I just don't understand why we gotta hide this."

Laxus shrugged. "It keeps people from talking."

"People are gonna talk regardless of what you do," commented Natsu as he lay back on the grass and stared up at the starry sky. Laxus followed suit.

"And the guild? What would they say?"

Sighing, the fire mage blinked, his gaze trying to focus on the constellations. "I don't know. They might think I lost a bet or something. Hell, Gray would probably think you were making me your slave."

It was Laxus's turn to sigh. "They scare me sometimes."

"Why?"

"Because they're stupid."

"When you call them stupid, it's like you're calling _me_ stupid!"

"Your point?"

Natsu grabbed a clump of dirt and grass and threw it at the lightning mage's face. As the earthen residue slid down Laxus's cheek, his eyes hardened as he sat up. "You're going to pay for that."

"Ack! Don't you dare!" the fire mage screeched, making a run for it when Laxus started throwing dirt at him. But his quick steps did him no favors when he slipped on some mud, falling face first into the ground.

Laxus stopped beside him, brushing his hands off by rubbing them together. "Are you finished being a nuisance?"

Raising his head, Natsu spit dirt out of his mouth while wiping his face off with his sleeve. " _You_ started it."

"You're the one who started throwing dirt at me. But I never thought you'd be able to take yourself out, too."

"Shut up, you jerk," he replied, pushing past Laxus as he headed for a park bench. Sitting down, he looked back up at the stars.

As he sat next to him, the lightning mage inhaled deeply…then paused, a frown marring his features as a foreign feeling overcame him. He made to speak a few more times, but couldn't bring himself to do so.

"Is something wrong?" Natsu asked, eyeing Laxus hesitantly.

"Yes…no…maybe. I don't know."

"You said we could talk to each other about anything, so spill."

"It's the last day of summer."

"Yeah. So?"

"My team is back tomorrow."

"Since when did you become Captain Obvious?"

"If you would shut up and stop interrupting, maybe I could get to the point!" the lightning mage snapped. When Natsu held up his hands defensively, he continued. "I don't think I can go back to how we were before."

The fire mage nodded in understanding. "Rivals."

"Yes. I never expected to become… _friends_ with you this summer. And I definitely never expected to…enjoy your company."

"Same here, Laxus. So what do we do now?" Natsu asked, kicking his feet. He poked at the dirt with the tip of his foot.

"We can't go back," started Laxus.

"But you're not sure you wanna go forward?"

"I never said that."

"I know, but that's how you feel, right?"

"How would _you_ know?"

"Because I feel the same."

They both sighed and looked back up at the night sky, only to see a shooting star. "Make a wish," whispered Laxus as he watched the star fade into nothing.

"I already did."

"What did you wish for?"

"If I tell you, it won't come true."

"I thought that only happened with birthday wishes."

"Nope!" Natsu said with a grin. "So what're we gonna do about tomorrow? Are we gonna pretend to be rivals…or really be friends?"

Laxus stared ahead of him, thinking before he voiced his decision aloud. "Friends. I want to stay friends."

The fire mage burst out laughing at that.

"What the hell is so funny?"

"It looks like I got my wish."

* * *

 **Author's Note – I really stretched the theme with this one. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Sorrow***


	28. Sorrow

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Parting is such sweet sorrow. Modern/AU

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating M.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Sorrow (Rated M)**

 _Magnolia – Year 1817_

"You can't do this!" screamed a woman.

"It must be done! In order to save ourselves from the Beast, sacrifices must be made!" dictated the leader of them all.

"But they are only children!" shouted another.

"It does not matter. We're doing this now!"

Everyone watched helplessly as their leader, as well as a few of his men, grabbed their torches and headed for the small house near the edge of town, with all of the town's children trapped inside. Slowly, they set fire to the house, the cries and screams from the town's children rising into the air with the smoke and flames.

* * *

 _Magnolia – Year 1917_

"If we do this, all is lost."

"I know. But it may be the only way to save us—all of us—and our future generations from the Beast."

"We cannot simply burn our city to the ground and our children, too."

"We can always have more children. But we must put an end to this. All of this."

"But if we destroy the city, how will our future generations know what is to come when the Beast arrives?"

"If we succeed, they won't have to."

* * *

 _Magnolia – Year 2017 – August 15_

 _Day 1_

Wendy shot up in bed, having the sudden urge to cough. She grabbed a tissue from her bedside table and began having a coughing fit.

"Are you okay in there?" asked Natsu after knocking.

"I'm fine," Wendy replied quickly. Her heart had quickened its pace when she noticed blood in her tissue. She was coughing up blood?

"You sure? You don't sound too good."

"Really, I'm fine." There was no need to worry her brother. He had plenty to worry about already. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay."

When she heard Natsu walk away from her door, she got out of bed, feeling a bit shaky in the process. But she shook it off. Getting dressed, she made sure to flush the bloody tissue down the toilet before heading into the kitchen.

"Can you believe this shit?" Natsu said upon her entering.

"What?" replied Wendy when she spotted Natsu's eyes glued to the television screen.

"Some kid's gone missing. The parents said he went to bed, but when they tried to wake him up this morning, he was just gone. They just put out an alert."

Wendy looked at the picture of the boy plastered on the T.V. It was Chiro Makio. And he was one of her classmates.

Suddenly, the urge to cough came upon her again. Excusing herself, she rushed to the bathroom, where she coughed up more blood.

"Wendy?" Natsu asked, horrified by what he saw. Then she passed out.

* * *

 _Magnolia – Year 2017 – August 16_

 _Day 2_

Romeo clenched the sides of his laptop while he watched T.V. with his brother during breakfast. Another child had gone missing. A girl. Her name was Aera Rose. And she was one of Romeo's classmates, much like Chiro Makio had been.

She'd disappeared the same way. Her parents had sent her to bed, and the following morning…she was just gone.

"Are you all right, Romeo?" asked Gray, looking concerned.

"Huh? Uh…I guess?"

"Is that a question?"

Romeo sighed. "It's just…I'm scared, Gray."

That caught the teen's attention. "Of what?"

"You know those two kids who've gone missing the past two days?"

"Yes."

"They're my classmates," he explained. "Doesn't that seem kind of strange to you? Two of my classmates in two days have disappeared. Not to mention Wendy's really sick."

"The pinky's sister is ill then?" Gray inquired.

Romeo cringed at the nickname. "Yeah," he replied softly, his voice catching. "She, uh…Natsu found her coughing up blood yesterday. And the doctors don't know what's wrong. I'm just really scared. She's my best friend. I don't want anything bad to happen to her. And I'm just…afraid."

Gray got up and pulled his brother into his arms. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he said.

 _PSHSSHKSDKSHSHSKSKDHSSSHHH!_

"What the hell?" Gray got up and went over to the T.V., which had suddenly gone snowy as if the channel had gone out. He picked up the remote and turned to a different channel. And another, and another. But everything was snowy.

He shut off the T.V. and turned back toward Romeo; however, he paused when he noticed Romeo's ashen face.

"Romeo?" he began cautiously.

"Look," his brother replied, pointing at the screen of his laptop.

Gray stepped behind him to see, needing a double take as he did so. The laptop's screen was snowy, much like the T.V. had been. But that wasn't possible…was it?

Placing his hands on Romeo's shoulders, he gave a gentle squeeze. "I want you to stay home from school today…all right?"

The small boy nodded fervently, unnerved by all the strange things that were going on. Just what on earth was happening?

* * *

 _Magnolia – Year 2017 – August 17_

 _Day 3_

Another girl had gone missing. And Natsu definitely knew it was one of Wendy's classmates. Her name was Kiki Thomas. Both girls spent a good majority of the time either texting or chatting online.

But now she had disappeared, just like the others.

And he was going to have to tell Wendy.

 _Crash!_

He jumped when he heard the glass break in the other room. But when a sob accompanied it, he pushed all his fears aside and made his way toward the sound.

When he reached the living room, he found Wendy sitting on the floor surrounded by glass.

"Wendy?"

"How did I get here?" she asked suddenly, eyes seeming blank.

"What?"

"How did I get here? I don't remember how I got here."

"Here in the living room?"

"How did I get here?" she screamed before breaking down and crying. "I don't remember how I got here. How did I get here?"

Natsu raced toward her and knelt by her side, careful to avoid the glass. He placed his arms around her, trying to comfort her as he hummed.

But then she began coughing up more blood.

Noticing she had a towel clenched in her hand, he fumbled for it. Bringing it to her mouth, he rubbed her back as she coughed. "It's okay. I'm here. You're fine," he said. But deep down, he felt that it was untrue.

And that began to break his heart.

* * *

 _Magnolia – Year 2017 – August 18_

 _Day 4_

 _Creak!_

 _Romeo's eyes popped open when he heard his bedroom door creak. Pulling the covers down from over his head, he gazed at his doorway._

 _In it stood what looked like the silhouette of a man. A long and lanky man at that._

 _Romeo tried to scream, but no sound came forth. It was as if he were mute._

 _The man then took a step forward, which only made Romeo shrink backward. Then he raised his hand out to the small boy. And when Romeo made to jump out of the bed and run, an unseen hand wrapped itself in his hair and yanked him back, holding him firmly in place._

 _Romeo thrashed in the bed, but the hand holding his hair just clenched more firmly._

 _Suddenly, the man rushed toward him—_

"AAH!" Romeo screamed as he shot up in bed, his heart racing.

"Romeo?" Gray shouted as he burst into the room. When he just saw his brother sitting up in bed, he felt himself calm.

"G-Gray?"

"It's okay, Romeo. You were just having a nightmare," said the teen as he sat next to his brother on the bed.

"No. I felt it. He wouldn't let go. He's coming for me, Gray. He's going to get me," Romeo began muttering hysterically.

"Romeo, no one is going to get you. Everything that's happened over the past few days has just gotten to you, that's all," said Gray. "How about I stay here for the night? We'll watch a little bit of T.V. for awhile to take your mind off things then go back to sleep, all right?"

Not waiting for a response, Gray grabbed the remote and turned in the T.V., only for it to land on a news channel. It showed that another child had disappeared. Another boy…named Chris Colton.

"I know him," Romeo said quietly. "I sit next to him in math. Well, not anymore, I guess."

Gray immediately shut off the T.V. "Let's just go to bed."

"It doesn't matter what you do. He'll still come for me."

"Who?" questioned Gray, sounding unnerved. "Who'll come for you?"

"…the Beast."

* * *

 _Magnolia – Year 2017 – August 19_

 _Day 5_

Natsu knocked on Wendy's door before pushing it open and stepping inside. He gasped when he saw the condition of the room.

Somehow his sister had gotten hold of a marker or something, because every inch of her wall space was covered in circles with Xs through them.

"Wendy?" Natsu started, trying to get the marker away from her. She just pulled back and continued drawing the symbols on her wall. "Come on, Wendy. Let's get you away from there and into bed, okay? Come on."

He was finally able to pry the marker away from her fingers. Helping her up, he led her toward the bed and assisted her under the covers. Kissing her forehead, he said, "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

She didn't reply, but closed her eyes and turned on her side instead.

Sighing, Natsu left the room, but not before ensuring that the door was open a crack…just in case. Walking down the hallway, he headed for his own bedroom until he heard a slam. Spinning around, he noticed that Wendy's door had slammed shut.

Quickly making his way for the door, he turned the knob, only to find it locked. He banged on the door. "Wendy! Let me in! Wendy!"

He received no answer, so he began ramming into the door in order to bust it open. When he succeeded, he stumbled into the room. "Wendy?"

She wasn't there.

"Wendy?" he cried anxiously. He scrambled about the room, looking everywhere. But she wasn't there. She was gone.

"She's gone," Natsu cried, breaking down into sobs. "She's gone."

* * *

 _Magnolia – Year 2017 – August 20_

 _Day 6_

Wendy had disappeared. She'd been the fifth child to disappear within five days. And after receiving an urgent call from Natsu, gray wasn't going to take any chances when it came to Romeo.

Which was why the two of them were standing outside of Lucy's house.

"Let's go, Romeo," urged Gray as he guided his listless brother inside.

"You're here," said Lucy, sounding surprised. "Anyway, we're in the living room."

"…we?"

"Me, Levy, Gajeel, and…and Natsu."

"Oh," Gray replied, unsure of what to say. "How…is he?"

"He's holding it together as best as he can," said Lucy quietly as they made their way into the living room. "I think the possibility of saving Romeo is the only thing keeping him going."

Gray spotted Natsu sitting o the couch, staring off into space. He didn't even acknowledge his or Romeo's presence, let alone anyone else.

"Good. You're here," said Gajeel.

"Why are we here? Do you know what's going on?" questioned Gray.

"I'm afraid I do," replied Gajeel. "But you also need to believe it's true. There is magic involved in this."

Magic. Normally the teen would scoff at the idea, but after everything that had happened, he was ready to do anything to protect Rome.

"So what's going on?"

Gajeel took a deep breath. "There is a curse on magnolia. Every one-hundred years, this creature called the Beast comes. Over a period of seven days, he takes seven children. They are never seen or heard from again.

"As the legend goes, when the Beast arrives, the Magnolia children exhibit a series of symptoms. They cough up blood, suffer memory loss, diarrhea, vomiting, nightmares, drawing certain symbols, and in more recent times, faulty technology."

"Where did you get all this from?"

"That would be me," said Levy, pulling out what looked like a singed book. "This is a diary, one that was found during the construction of Magnolia in 1917. It catalogues a catastrophic event, one where the townspeople burned the city and its children to the ground in order to destroy the Beast.

"The knowledge was passed down over the centuries, but in 1917 they believed that by destroying the city, they would eradicate the Beast. In doing so, they felt the future generations would never have to worry about the Beast ever again. But it's obviously not so."

Gray would have loved nothing more than to disbelieve all of it. But as soon as they had spoken of the Beast, the teen felt it must have been true. Romeo had referred to it as the same thing.

"And you think it's coming after Romeo?" he asked.

"Yes," said Gajeel solemnly. "He's exhibited some symptoms, correct?"

"…to an extent, but—"

"No buts, Gray," Natsu interceded. "We have a chance to save Romeo here. We need to save Romeo."

Gray sighed. "And how do we do that?"

"The Beast is said to be weak against fire," said Gajeel.

The teen glared. "It's not like we can burn the city down."

"I know that! But we can use it to ward off the Beast. And if we keep watch over Romeo, especially after the seventh day has passed, he'll be all right."

"And the Beast will just go away. That's it?"

"We assume that's it," said Levy.

"But it's worth a shot," added Natsu. "Losing…losing Wendy is…you have no idea what this feels like. I can't…I have to save Romeo. I couldn't save her, but we can try and save him."

"Fine. We'll do it your way," Gray conceded. What other choice did he have?

"Excuse me," Romeo blurted before racing off. He burst into the bathroom and shut the door. By the sounds of it, he was exhibiting another symptom.

"Oh, no," Lucy said suddenly. "Another child's gone missing."

Everyone turned their attention toward the T.V. Another boy had gone missing. Kyle Kyoto. And he was also a classmate of Romeo's. They'd done a science project together last month.

Six children, six days.

They had one more day to go. Then it would all be over.

* * *

 _Magnolia – Year 2017 – August 21_

 _Day 7_

Nothing had happened. No child had been announced missing in the news. Nothing. And they had about an hour left until midnight. Then the seventh day would be over.

Romeo was curled up in Gray's lap sound asleep. Gajeel, Lucy, Natsu, and Levy were gathered around Gray's living room, anxiously waiting for something to happen.

If it even would.

They'd surrounded themselves with lit candles, set a fire in the fireplace, and kept watch, all in hopes of saving Romeo.

It seemed as if all of their preventative measures had worked, because nothing happened at all. And when midnight came and went, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think I can put him to bed now," announced Gray, picking Romeo up in his arms.

"It seems we've succeeded," said Gajeel.

"Yeah," agreed Natsu. He walked up to Romeo and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Take care of him, Gray."

"I will," he replied. When it looked like natsu was content with that, he walked upstairs and toward Romeo's bedroom.

As he put his brother into bed, he smiled before kissing his forehead. "Goodnight, Romeo," he said before stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Gray went down the stairs and veered toward the kitchen. He froze, however, when he spotted the clock. It read 11:16 p.m.

Whipping out his cell phone, he checked its time. It also read 11:16 p.m.

The clock in the living room was wrong! There was still time before midnight!

"Romeo!" Gray shouted as he raced up the stairs.

He clambered down the hallway until he reached his brother's door. Ripping it open, he charged into the room.

But Romeo was gone. He was gone.

And they had failed to keep him safe.

The Beast had claimed its seven victims once more.

* * *

 **Author's Note – My brain hurts after this one. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Happiness***


	29. Happiness

**Dragon Family Values**

* * *

Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Laxus will do anything to make his mate happy. Laxus x Freed

* * *

Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating M.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Happiness (Rated M)**

"Help me," Laxus deadpanned to the only person he felt could help him.

Mira raised her head and stared at the lightning mage, noticing the strained expression on his face. It seemed as if he was trying to hold himself together. "What do you need help with?"

"What is the proper first year anniversary gift?"

"The proper…you mean traditional?"

"Yes."

"Paper."

Laxus just stared at her. "Excuse me?"

"Paper is the traditional gift for a first year wedding anniversary," she replied calmly. Why did she have to work at the guild today?

"Paper," Laxus repeated. "Paper?"

"Yes. Paper," she replied. _Three…two…one…_

"WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH PAPER?!" Laxus roared.

Mira took a deep breath. "Why me?" she mumbled. "Laxus, would it be helpful if I offered some ideas?"

The lightning mage's anxious yet livid expression seemed to dwindle as he pondered that suggestion. "I suppose. What did you have in mind?"

"You could do a genealogy gift…or not? What about a family tree?"

"Not enough family."

"A wedding scrapbook?"

"I don't have the patience."

"Money?"

"Won't take it."

"Origami money?"

"What the hell is that?"

"You take paper jewel and fold them up like origami," Mira replied with a smile.

"No."

"Gift certificate?"

"He won't even take money."

"Gift card?"

"Are you really that obtuse?!"

Mira groaned. "Then what about a bottle of wine with a cute little card attached to it?"

"He doesn't drink alcohol."

"Then pick something from the anniversary flower gift list! Or the modern anniversary gift list!" she snapped.

"There are different lists?"

"Yes!"

"Why didn't you say so before?"

"AUGH!"

Laxus flinched. "What's on the flower list?"

"For first year anniversary?" she replied as she tried to calm herself. "Carnations."

"No. He doesn't like those. What about the modern list?"

"Clocks."

"Clocks?"

"Yes. Clocks."

"You're not very helpful with this sort of thing."

"Fine! Go wear a paper thong for all I care! Just leave me out of it!" Mira screamed before storming off.

As Laxus watched her go, he said, "It must be her time of the month."

* * *

"Can I open them now?" Freed asked as Laxus led him—stumbling—to their bedroom.

"Not until I shut the door."

"Huh? Why?"

"You'll see," Laxus answered. "All right. Open them."

When Freed opened his eyes, he gasped.

"Happy Anniversary."

" _This_ is my anniversary gift?"

The smirk Laxus was about to let grace his features faltered. "Is there something wrong with it?"

"Laxus, it's almost a life-size version of you…naked…made out of origami paper."

"But—wait. What do you mean almost?"

"Your penis isn't that big."

"Excuse me?!"

"I'm not insulting your size. It's perfectly fine. But this…are you trying to compensate for something?"

"I'm not trying to compensate for anything."

"Then why the bigger pe—?"

"Just drop it," Laxus cut in, losing his patience. "There's more."

"Let me guess. You got a naked statue, too?"

"No."

"But you want one, don't you?"

"Of you, maybe. But that's not the point," Laxus said hurriedly. "Each folded piece of paper has a…request."

Freed smiled. "You mean I can cash in these little requests, and you do things for me?"

"It's more the other way around."

"What?!" Freed started, looking offended. "How is that _for_ me?"

"Because you're on the receiving end."

"…oh. Oh!" Freed exclaimed in realization.

"Yes, they're _those_ kinds of requests."

The rune mage headed over to origami Laxus and pulled off one of the pieces. " _Now_ it's the right size."

"Freed," Laxus warned, but the rune mage just laughed it off.

"I like the idea, Laxus. It makes me very happy, but it's not very romantic."

"Then we'll light a fucking a candle!" the lightning mage snapped. "This whole anniversary thing wasn't easy! I mean…paper?"

"You were going for traditional?"

"Yes."

"Then I love it and it is romantic," Freed said sweetly before he sauntered toward the bed. "Now let's try one of these requests out."

* * *

 **Author's Note – My brain hurts is strange. Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Under the Rain***


	30. Under the Rain

**Dragon Family Values**

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Disclaimer – I do not own Fairy Tail

* * *

Summary: Rogue doesn't care for the rain.

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Author's Note #1 – I'm using the 100 Theme Fanfiction Challenge for this collection. I thought it'd be something different.

Author's Note #2 – This one I am rating T.

Author's Note #3 – These drabbles are pretty much one-shots and are not related to each other in any way unless otherwise indicated.

* * *

 **Under the Rain (Rated T)**

Rogue didn't like the rain. He never said it outright, but Sting was around him enough to know the truth.

How Rogue would hesitate to get out of bed when he heard the raindrops hitting the window or the roof. How he bundled up more before he left the house. How Rogue would strip off his sopping wet clothes when he got home and change back into his pajamas. And how he would sit on the couch, dig his cold toes under Sting's soft thigh, and curl up in a blanket, staring at the crackling fire that was _always_ burning in the winter.

Rogue's work with Sabertooth usually picked up in November and December, so he didn't have time to mope around. But once December was over, once holidays were done and gifts had been received, once work had slowed down and the new year started, Rogue seemed to grow smaller, hunch over a little, fade.

He avoided looking out the window, and if he did find himself seeing the rain, his hands clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles turned white, and his nails left bloody little crescents in his palms.

Sting never asked him about it. He knew that Rogue would never answer even if he tried. That didn't mean that he couldn't try asking Frosch, though.

"Fro thinks it's because that's when Skiadrum died," Frosch answered after he'd hesitantly asked. "Skiadrum was really sick. It was dark and wet, and he asked Rogue to assist him to die. At least that what Rogue said. So that's why Rogue is always down when the rain comes. At least, that's what Fro thinks."

Sting frowned. "Why wouldn't he tell me that himself?"

"Fro doesn't know," Frosch whined.

The dragon-slayer sighed. "It's far too much a burden to bear all on his own."

Frosch seemed to hum in agreement.

* * *

Sting ushered Rogue into bed as soon as he was in his pajamas. " _Sting_."

"What?" The white dragon-slayer didn't pause in his shoving. That would be like showing weakness, and Rogue was very good at exploiting them.

"It's literally half past seven. We just ate dinner."

Sting huffed. "Are you saying you need to sit and digest first?"

Rogue let out a grunt as he was shoved onto the bed. "Sting, it's only half past seven. I wanted to finish up some paperwork for the guild— _what are you doing_?!" he exclaimed as Sting began tucking him under the covers.

"Maybe you'd find out if you'd shut up," was Sting's only response before he scampered around to his side of the bed.

Rogue thought about escaping before Sting could cuddle up to him, but it was cold out, gray, and dark, and he was very, very tired. "I was going to finish that paperwork."

"You were going to stare at the fire like the moody bastard you are," Sting huffed, wrapping his arms around him. "Like you have the past few weeks."

"I'm not _moody_." He already knew his argument was weak because he _had_ been staring at the fire, and he was rather tense with everyone lately.

"So I'm going to cuddle the hell out of you, and we're not going to talk about your feelings."

Rogue frowned at the ceiling even as Sting wrapped his legs around his own. "Because you talk to _Frosch_ about my feelings."

"Someone has to talk about your feelings, even if _you_ won't." Sting smiled and tucked his hands into the pockets of the shadow dragon-slayer's pajama pants. "So we're going to cuddle and lounge around all night."

Rogue grit his teeth before grudgingly muttering, "Thank you." He listened to the rain pattering on the windows, and then he turned and buried his face in Sting's chest. "Really. Thank you."

Sting grinned and didn't say anything because the last thing he wanted was to ruin the mood.

* * *

 **Author's Note – Cute? Please review!**

 ***Next Theme – Flowers***


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